I Just Can't Believe
by Winged Rose
Summary: Bloom wishes she could forget the day that Sky admitted he was cheating on her... But she can't... Until she meets the man who could be her Prince Charming... The twist is, Sky was under a spell... But who put it on him? And to what purpose does it serve?
1. You Cheated!

Summary: Bloom has become the Queen of Sparx and has begun restoration on the infamous planet… Unbeknownst to all of her people she has returned it to its full glory and is living there some of the time to keep it up and running… She had been working extremely hard at advancing her magic level, and is now almost as strong as she can become… Mrs. Faragonda noticed and is letting her graduate a year early… Bloom couldn't be happier, until Sky breaks up with her the day before her graduation; telling her that he had been cheating on her with one of her friends… But who is it? And why did he cheat? Or did he?

Disclaimer: I do not own the Winx Club or anything like that, I just love to use the general idea in the making of my fan fics!

**Please read and review all of my chapters, I've had great success with this story and others before but I would love to hear from you guys! Flames are permitted, but please make them light.**

(Alfea and the day of Sky's visit)

Bloom had been doing anything possible, to keep her mind off of Sky's visit… Her stomach was twisted and contorted into so many knots of worry… That she could hardly stand up for fear of it bursting. Finally she gave up on trying to clean the dragon statue that was in the center of her tower's receiving room.

She had been given the north-east tower of Alfea at the beginning of her sophomore year, she had loved it ever since for the simple fact that it was decorated ceiling to floor with the Dragon Insignia of her home planet Sparx… She just adored walking up the hundred flights of steps to the top where the bell scope was; and sitting on the ledge of the roof, to watch the rain fall down on cloudy days… And see the rainbows form through the mist; all the while pretending that Sky was sitting beside her with his head resting gently on top of hers and his hand slowly stroking through her long red hair.

Oh, how she missed him desperately… She hadn't seen him for three months now… Seeing that even though he had graduated from Red Fountain, she hadn't graduated from Alfea yet… The second he had left he had been bombarded by his princely duties, and forced to learn everything there was to learn about being a king.

But that didn't matter to her… Not as long as she was absolutely positive that his heart still belonged to her… None the less, they were still separated for weeks at a time now, more for the reason that she had some responsibilities on Sparx that were scheduled so that they didn't mesh with Sky's. The fact that it was returned to its full glory didn't matter; since she hadn't told anyone yet, and was thus, alone in running it… Even if no one lived there hitherto now.

They couldn't live there yet in the first place… For even if it was suitable, Bloom didn't wish anyone there until she had fixed the nasty five story abominable snow man problem… She had found a nasty hoard of the things, and it took a couple of hours for the S.O.E.B.P. (Society of Endangered Beast Protectors) to catch each one of them and take them back to a captive living home.

Bloom had insisted that she could just squash each of the things with a snap of her fingers, but then those people had interfered and messed everything up. Of course, she had had to say yes, but she was becoming tired of keeping the spell up that made other people see a waste land instead of the beautiful place Sparx was now.

She wouldn't think of those things today though… For today was special, today she would see Sky, (if he kept his promise this time and could actually show up) she would be able to come up to the bell scope; and hope it rained so she could sit there with him like old times.

But she still couldn't discard the sinking feeling about the day though… She couldn't put her finger on it but she had a weird voice in the back of her mind that kept telling her something was going to go wrong.

Bloom almost always felt like this before a supposed visit from Sky, and when she did feel like that, he usually never did show up…

The feeling she got was weird, it was like the feeling she always got before a big battle occurred or some magic was going to be used for a wrong reason. She just couldn't give up her hope today though… So she just sat there, hoping to high heaven that for once her conscience would be wrong and nothing would happen.

She was in the middle of wondering what his excuse would be this time if he went and decided he couldn't show up… But her thoughts were interrupted as she heard a rapping on the trap door that was the only entrance to the bell scope. She rolled her eyes heavenward and forced herself to get up --perturbed that one of her friends would bug her right before Sky showed up-- and pull up the wooden door and let down the ladder.

"Hey Bloom!" It was Stella.

"Stella, you know Sky is about to show up, why are you coming to bug me right _now?_" Bloom asked her friend, inwardly glad that she had come and now she could gush all of her thoughts to her.

"Oh, I know you silly! You're always feeling down when you know Sky is about to show up…" She thrust a carton into Bloom's face. "I brought ice cream!" Stella said, trying to bribe her friend.

"Now, when you put it that way…" Said Bloom, grabbing the tub of Triple Fudge Swirl from her intimate.

"Ssssoooo," Stella started. "Tell me all about your doubts this time…" She sat down on the bell scope's railing.

"Just the usual." Bloom lied.

"It can't just be the usual Bloom," Stella replied, pointing to the tub of ice cream, and the spoon that was halfway up to her friend's mouth. "You've already eaten a quarter of that thing."

Bloom nodded and looked down at the stuff, knowing she'd been caught out. "Well, I've just got this sinking feeling; like something bad is going to happen today."

"Do you think Sky won't show up again?" He had blown her off a week before (the last week of summer before her senior year).

"No, I think he will, but…" Bloom trailed off.

"Come on darling, tell Stella all about it." She batted her eyes.

"It's just that I don't think he's been himself lately, like something is really bugging him or something, and he usually tells me about these things and, well, I'm freaking out."

"Have you talked to him about this yet?" Stella asked.

"No, I didn't feel it was my place." Bloom mumbled, her eyes going back to the ice cream tub.

"Well of course it's your place darling! If you're worried about your man you've just gotta tell him."

"I mean, what if it's that he wants to break up with me or something?" Bloom admitted her concern.

"Oh, no blithering idiot would break up with you! Besides! You're too good for him and he knows it sweetie! Now, when he comes up to you today, just tell him your worries and if that goofy Prince doesn't tell you otherwise; then old Stella here'll come down and give him what's for."

Bloom smiled and hugged her friend. "Thanks Stell', you always know how to make me feel better! Or at least how to make me laugh…"

"I'll say! There is not one drop of ice cream left in that thing for me!" Stella joked, then gazed out over the balcony and said, "Speak of the devil! There's Sky now! That worry's gone now, my dear!"

Bloom hugged her again and jumped down through the trap door to run and meet Sky, but Stella had other ideas. "Get your butt back here! I haven't given you a once over yet!" Bloom popped her head back up through the trap door and Stella looked her up and down, then nodded her ok.

Bloom rushed down the ladder again, and ran down the steps to Alfea's courtyard. Stella stayed for a second and shook her head in the wonder of Bloom's changing moods, she then shimmied down the ladder and out the door herself, then headed towards her own dorm.

The Queen had reached the bottom of the steps when Sky caught her eye as he got off of his leva bike. "SKY!" Bloom yelled. "What took you so long? I missed you so much." Sky laughed and folded his arms around the girlfriend he hadn't seen for two months. "I missed you to Bloom, but now that I graduated I've got a lot of responsibilities on Eraklyon."

"Oh, don't you be telling me about responsibilities PRINCE," Bloom retorted. "I am the QUEEN of Sparx, those duties, mixed with trying to master my powers, is a bad thing!" _Among other things… _She thought.

"All right, all right, you've got me there! You made your point, but remember, I'll be King in three more years." Sky said sarcastically.

"Well, sorry I deflated your princely ego a little bit, Your Highness," Bloom said teasingly and poked Sky in the chest with her index finger; and with finesse… Knocked him flat on his butt, without the use of magic.

"Little stinker," Sky said as he got up with astonishing agility, and tried to kiss Bloom on the lips but instead got her cheek as she dodged him.

"You're the stinker," Bloom said and then decided to give him his kiss.

"I missed you Bloom!"

"I know you did." Bloom said, totally forgetting to ask him about her apprehensions (obviously not knowing how much she would soon regret that, for it would of saved her a lot of trouble in the very near and far future). So she took him up to the bedroom portion of her tower so they could sit and talk (or do other things) privately.

"Guess what, Sky" Bloom said.

"What?" He replied, all the time smiling, his arms around her waist…

"Mrs. F, is letting me graduate now!" She leaned towards him and gave him one of the smiles that were rarely seen now that she had so many responsibilities.

"Aw Bloom! That's awesome, but how come?" He rapped his arms tighter around her and gave her a lingering hug.

Bloom blushed but continued despite her happiness… "Well, she says that I've surpassed even the highest magic course in all of the schools. And furthermore, that I should go back to Sparx and return it to its full glory!" Bloom could hardly keep herself from bouncing off of the walls with the good news and the fact that her boyfriend had shown up for once. All the while snickering in her mind that he hadn't realized Sparx was already fixed.

She was so excited in fact that she didn't notice Sky's eyes flash a deep gold for about five seconds as something, that could only be a spell, overtook him. Or the fact that his arms loosened around her. "That is great Bloom," Sky said with a little less enthusiasm then she had expected, thus bringing her out of her excitement induced hyper-ness.

"Is there something wrong Sky?" Bloom said, her concern returned full force, like a jet slamming into her stomach.

"Nothing." He replied, sounding a bit like he was hypnotized… Bloom either didn't notice or really care about such a tiny change in his voice.

"Sky, we've been together for four years, you can't hide anything from me." She looked at him suspiciously. Her arms falling down from his neck to cover her stomach, as if she could keep the tremors of fear from starting.

"I was going to wait a little bit longer, but I guess I can't." Sky said, looking at her sheepishly. "Bloom, I'm… I'm…" Something seemed to be holding him back, trying to stop him from saying the next words… But it lost considerably… For Sky was nothing compared to the spell… "Breaking up with you."

"What?" Bloom screeched. Sweat breaking through on her forehead…

"I think it's time to see other people..." Again the thing trying to stop him…

"But..." Bloom trailed off as a wave of emotion hit her. "Why?"

"There's someone else Bloom." Sky's true self lost the battle then and there and the spell took him over fully.

"What?" Bloom whispered, her tears of pain suddenly dried up as the Dragon Fire flicked on inside of her and made them rise off of her cheeks in tiny wisps of steam. "What do you mean someone else? Who… When... What... Where? And most importantly! HOW LONG have you been betraying me!" Bloom yelled and got up to start stalking towards him, with each step she took turning into a puddle of flames the second her foot left the ground.

"Bloom… wait! It's Layla, and it has been since last summer, at the Dragon Festival." Even the spell knew it was time to be cautious, and act a bit more like the true Sky.

"LAYLA! LLLLLLLLAAAAAAYYYYYYYYLLLLLLLAAAAAA! You deceived me with one of my friends!" Bloom screamed in her fury, holding on to it while it lasted so that she wouldn't break down in front of him.

"I am sorry Blo…" Sky was stopped in mid-sentence by a furious retort.

"SORRY! Sorry! I am way past being so stupid as to accept an apology after this, I would never forgive a bastard like you, especially not after what _you_ did!" Her voice rose an octave on every word. So with that said Bloom ripped open a glowing orange fire portal to Sky's realm and was about to push him through but thought of one last thing that she needed to say to him before she could be fully satisfied for the moment.

"I never want to see your face again Sky Turanella, and so help me… If I do, your planet may cease to exist!" And with that she shoved him into the portal, without a care in all of Sparx where he landed. What was funny was the fact that she didn't notice that he seemed to be happy she didn't care either, as if he had planned for her to do this… Or someone else had…

(Bloom's point of view, two seconds later)

Bloom closed the portal as soon as she could and collapsed onto the ground in grief and contemplated what had just happened; a thought kept repeating in her head.

_Just this morning I couldn't wait to see him, now I couldn't care less. And what's worse is the fact that my suspicion was right… _

And so she continued on thinking that until one more thought ran through her mind: _I just had my heart ripped out with a cold and cruel hand, yet the only thing I can feel is hatred… Revulsion for the man I once loved. Tell me then if I can't feel anything… that it feels as though my life is now hanging by a single thread… That was once a rope as thick as the Great Wall of China is wide? _So that is how she came to think the thing that would change her life forever. _Once I leave this place, I am never coming back, because this place is no longer my home and nothing here matters anymore…_

_Sky! ONE DAY I WILL AVENGE MYSELF! THEN YOU"LL BE SORRY!_

**I hope that chapter is better now that I've redone it, I agree with the person who said they didn't like the first version, so thanks! I do think it sounds better and fits into the story better now!**

**-_Winged Rose_**


	2. Arranged Marriage?

(Alfea, Bloom's Graduation)

Bloom walked down the aisle, her feet hit the floor one after another, each of them feeling like an anvil each time she moved it. Her face throbbed with the pain that the smile she had kept plastered on it ever since she had step foot outside of her tower; two hours before, caused.

She moved gracefully down the seemingly endless red carpet, flashes from ultra-bright news cameras going off fifty times before each blink of her eyes. Mrs. Faragonda stood at the end of the aisle, a cream colored diploma rapped in a red ribbon emblazoned with the Dragon Insignia; in her hand.

The entire city of Magix had turned out for her graduation, each and every one of them crammed into Alfea's tiny courtyard… Her friends were there, each of them with their fingers intertwined with their boyfriend's. People were there that she didn't even know; yet they still came because they knew the legends wound around this majestic person… And wished to see if some of the fame would rub off on them; if not that, at least some of her luck.

The only person that wasn't there was Sky… And the fact that he was the only one that she wanted to be there with her; could not make her forget the horrible deed he had done to her… The reality that that deed had been done the day before her graduation, and the verity that it had been done with Layla… Hurt the most; and caused her to move a tiny bit slower.

_Layla, that little brat!_ Bloom thought angrily. _She knew I loved that boy more then anything else in this world! And she had to steal him from me! With him, she stole my soul, and my heart… And probably my life… How will I ever be able to live my life like I pictured? If it was all pictured with Sky?_

_She was one of my best friends, _Bloom went on to think. _I never_ _expected this of either of them. I mean I knew that Layla had had a slight crush on Sky ever since the first day she saw him. But, me being so foolish, I never even considered the thought that Sky could betray me._

A tear began to form in the corner of Bloom's eye, _No!_, Her mind screamed… _I will not cry over that man! He does not deserve my tears! I never cried before, and I won't start now!_

"Go Bloom!" A few of her friends cried from the audience as she stepped onto the stage, and for a moment; the sound of their voices brought her out of her daze.

Bloom smiled at them, attempting to make the plastered grin a little bit bigger then it had been for the last hour… And then it occurred to her how fake her smiles must look these days, it didn't help that she hadn't told anybody why they did… She hadn't told her friends yet that Sky had broken up with her and had been cheating on her with Layla. It was still far too painful; to even contemplate saying it out loud.

A wound may heal with time, but Bloom already knew all to well; that a wound to the heart took twice as long to heal. Besides that, if a wound is too deep… You either die, or gain a scar that will always be there…

"Bloom Ambrosius-Regina…" Began Mrs. Faragonda "You have been the most physically powerful, kind, remarkable person to ever pass through the halls of Alfea. And frankly, we are all honored to have had you in our lives for these past three years. It is with those words, that I give you your diploma." The head-mistress handed over the beautiful certificate and then moved backward a foot.

"Thank you Mrs. Faragonda," Bloom replied solemnly and accepted the diploma she'd worked so hard for… Just so that she could marry Sky earlier… But now; she didn't know if all of the work was worth it anymore.

Mrs. Faragonda must've sensed that Bloom was thinking something in that category, and looked over questioningly… She quickly covered the look up with a question to go with it… "Bloom, would you give us a speech?"

Bloom caught herself before she gave an exasperated sigh and started talking… "Very well," She smiled out at the crowd, her jaw protesting the entire time. "My life; since I came to Alfea has been hard… Especially during this last year… This last year I worked harder then I ever have, and all so that I could be able to go home and restore my throne. And that I shall, but it will be hard, and I expect it to be no less then that." Bloom let her gaze meet each of her friend's and their boyfriend's. "Tonight I plan to leave for Sparx, and the beginning of her restoration… I promise you all that I will be a great ruler, and that you will always love and be able to trust me to help protect you along with your own king and queen." She nodded and walked off the stage… "Too bad I won't be happy about it…" She said to herself once she was out of sight.

_I might as well be dead, for all that Sky just practically killed me… One day, I'll get revenge… If he ever needs help… If he ever needs love… If he ever needs arms to be held with… Like I most definitely do… _

_I won't be there..._

**_------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------_**

(The next day)

"Oh Bloom! I am going to miss you so much," Stella sobbed into her shoulder.

"Stella, I'll come back to visit! And don't you ever forget it" Bloom whispered with false enthusiasm, and patted her friend's back gently, as if she were a child.

_I don't think that I'll ever be able to see her again… _She thought to herself… _I could never bring myself to be around someone as happy as Stella… Or any of my friends again…_ She sighed in her mind._ Especially not Stella… Because she's got everything I ever wanted… She's going to marry Brandon in a few months… And she'll have someone to love her forever more… _Another tear tried to slip down her cheek but she held it in… _Never, will I love again… _She pushed her friend back a bit and walked away… She opened the fire portal that would take her to Sparx's palace, so she could begin its long_ awaited_ restoration.

She was held back for a moment while her friends came up one by one to tell her they'd miss her. Layla had disappeared along with Sky, and Bloom didn't rightly care where to… She made up an excuse to tell her other friends… It consisted of; _Oh… She just had to go home… I don't think she's coming back, other then that I don't know where she is…_

She had a pretty good idea of where the little traitor was, but she figured that that was of no concern to anyone else, just yet. Not until she was ready… If she ever would be… Or if she ever had the chance again.

And so she put one foot into the portal with-out hesitation, just barely managing being able to turn round and say: "I'll miss you guys, all of you." She wasn't sure if she'd lied about that or not…

Either way, she forced her tender lips into one last smile and then took the one step that would change her life forever.

Her foot made contact with solid ground and she stepped completely through the portal and into the other side; it quietly closed behind her and she took a quick look around her at the desolate wasteland that was the palace's surrounding courtyard… She hadn't yet gotten to the palace… Figuring that the rest of the planet was more important then what should have been her home.

She'd made the decision the first time she had come to Sparx, she would fix the things that needed to be fixed first… It just so happened that the palace had been last on the list, and so, even though the planet was returned to full glory, the castle had sat waiting; and still was…

"What have I gotten myself into?" Her voice echoed into the abyss and chilled her to the bone. She shuddered and walked toward her castle… Hurrying so that she could get up to the one room she had fixed; hers.

She moved slowly into the long hallway that was once the throne room, each double click of her heels echoing back to her like a long lost voice…

She heard her voice ring out into the halls as she whispered the thing she did every time she came back to this place. "I can tell by the decoration, that this was once the most beautiful palace in all of the realms. Why those witches had to destroy my planet I'll never know."

All of the sudden she heard a break behind her and jumped nigh on ten feet. She was starting to get used to things falling and breaking in this place, but it still scared her sometimes when it was especially noisy…

"What in all of Sparx was that?" Bloom screeched and snapped her fingers so the old chandelier above her would go aflame and light the entire room.

Bloom then looked in the general direction of the shattering noise and noticed that a picture had fallen off of the wall and the glass protecting it had broken. She let out a tiny breath and then walked over to where it lay. Going cautiously to avoid the shards, noticing that the glass that had been over the picture was very expensive; weapon proof glass… That could easily penetrate the thickest of shoes. _What kind of picture could warrant such expensive protection? And why have I never noticed it, if it was so obviously valuable?_ She asked herself, as she weaved between the debris.

Once she finally got to it she pulled out the thing --she had thought was a picture-- that had once been inside the beautiful golden frame. And walked over to sit on the throne so she could look at it.

She gasped as she finally realized that it was not a picture… But a document… One about her; _Why did I never notice this thing before?_ Her mind screamed at her.

She read it out loud to herself…

_**Ten+Eighty-Nine+Of The Reign of the Dragon Flame**_

_We hereby state that the Royal Highness, Princess Bloom Ambrosius-Regina will be married on a date of her choosing, to His Royal Highness; Julian Qurald. In the hopes that the two planets shall combine and become one. Thus becoming free of all possibilities of war. And though the two have never been enemies, this bond is being formed in a hope that there will always be safety for the two planets from each other. And that they may become stronger for the alliance._

_**Miriam Ambrosius---Oritiel Regina--------------------------------Lilca Qurald---Gerald Qurald**_

Bloom's hand went limp the second she read her parent's names; and the document fell like a ghost to the ground.

"I…I…I have an arranged marriage? How could this be, no one ever told me this!" Bloom screamed. "M…maybe it's a fake," she said hopefully.

She picked up the document again and must've read it twenty times before, she realized that there was no way that it could be false.

Bloom sunk to her knees at that and a wave of dread washed over her… _Why does this universe feel the need to accurse me so? _She choked on each word. _I shall not marry this man! Because I will never love again!_

**_------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------_**

**Hey guys! Here's some info about Bloom's last name, in translated from latin it means this: Bloom Ambrosius-Regina Bloom The Immortal-Queen**

**Hmm... Hmmmmmmm... What do you think I'm getting at there?**

**Thanks for the reviews! I hope you stick with the story, it's a long one! But I've got it written on other sites and they loved it!**

**-_Winged Rose_**


	3. Eraklyon's Double Sided Royals!

(Eraklyon, Sky's point of view)

To the hypno-Sky's delight, the portal that Bloom shoved him through in her rage; dropped him in Eraklyon… To his displeasure, it also landed him face down in a pile Canavarian Bog Worm poo…

His nostrils smelled it coming before he actually hit, and he had been able to at least shield his eyes with his hands… Though not much else… He lay there for a second, his hypno-self not able to think what to do. He finally figured out that he was going to have to get up eventually; so he shoved his arms underneath his body and lifted himself out of the manure. His clothes making a nasty squelching noise as his leather jacket rubbed against his spandex shirt.

The spell had enough sense to make him walk out of the stuff before he went behind a bush and rid himself of his lunch… And after about fifteen minutes he walked out from behind it, still making gagging noises as he stripped off his jacket and shirt and started toward the palace.

The spell tried to force him to go to his mother straight away and report, but his mind gained power over it for a few seconds and he climbed the palace's outer steps to get up to his room. (Something told him the maids would not appreciate Canavarian Bog Worm poo being tracked into the carpets) Once there he went directly to the shower and used enough soap to clean the entire Eraklyonite army with for two weeks; he then slipped into a blue silk shirt and black jeans. His hypno-half decided to go barefoot; so he walked out the door, down the hall and into his mother's throne room.

As soon as the gray haired queen saw him she ushered him up to her and asked the question she'd been holding in for hours now… "Did you break up with her?" She questioned eagerly…

He smiled and looked down at her, since she was sitting; "Yes." Sky replied.

Scariialla let off a high pitch cackle and smiled, "Excellent, I never did like that Bloom. She was not a proper princess, nor can she ever be a high-quality queen, such as I." The queen said sarcastically and let out a dainty sniff. "I am so proud that you're actually with a suitable princess now. One that was raised her entire infancy to be a monarch. It disgusts me how they'll let anyone be a sovereign these days." Scariialla said, in fear that the spell had worn off, so she was using a sort of code that when translated meant: _Yes, and now she'll not interfere with my plans… And that other twit isn't fit for you either, that's why she's rotting in jail and'll die in a day at her execution…_

He had understood the meaning and just smiled; "Yes mother," Sky said, his voice still shaded by the slightly hypnotized sound…

"And you will be a good King, won't you my little lovely?" Scariialla replied petulantly.

"Of course, I will rule with every part of the evil power you have over the years." Sky countered, still spellbound.

"You are dismissed," said Scariialla, the queen of Eraklyon.

He nodded curtly and moved to, and up, the steps that lead to the royal family's quarters and stopped half-way up the incline to nod once more at his mother, then leave.

"Finally." The queen whispered once she thought she was alone, and slumped back into her throne. "My plan is in action, no one can stop it now. Eraklyon shall rule the universe. And now that Sky has been put under the obedience spell. He will rule with the evil hand I always wanted him to -once I become old and decrepit. I was extremely lucky when that stupid little Layla came along in Sky's Junior year, she was the perfect person to break Bloom's heart, besides, with her execution tomorrow, I can take over her planet easily as long as she's not there… And with Bloom's heart broken like that, she wouldn't have the guts to fight back, nor would she want to be involved with anything Sky is involved with."

Scariialla smiled at her brilliance and looked down at the locket that hung around her neck; it contained a picture of the previous king of Eraklyon; and she still wore it to make it look like she was grieving… The poor man had been killed (or rather, murdered) in Sky's senior year, and the queen now had complete power over Eraklyon. _Poor man…_ She snickered in her mind as she opened it and looked at the picture. _But with you gone, I can finally gain what I've always wanted…_

She cackled again and whispered; "Little does anyone know that, in a few months, a war shall begin, that will be remembered as the most destructive one in history for thousands of years!" Scariialla grinned at her genius.

"With any luck, Queen Bloom will not interfere. She's the only one that _could_ stop this. But, I've already made sure of that………"

**_-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------_**

(Sparx)

"I can't believe this!" Bloom screamed in agony… "It's just so wrong! If I knew of this a few months ago I would've broke it off and pretended it never existed! But now I have no reason to do that, since I'm no longer promised to another man… If I did it, it would cause a war… And I just can't kill something right now, I can't do that!" She forced herself to hold back even further tears and continued to yell at the wall.

"I just don't know what to do anymore…" She sniffed… "Maybe those people are right… Maybe I won't be a good Queen! And maybe I should just give up! But…" She looked at her left hand's middle finger and stared at the ring with the iridescent orange stone placed on it… It meant she was the ruler of Sparx… The ring was her Kingdom Ring, and she was obliged to never take it off or forget the responsibilities that came with it.

She shook her head at her earlier statement and replied to it… "What kind of person would I be then? If I gave up? I really would be a bad Queen, then… Because I would've let down all the people that used to call this place home, and hopefully will, again, one day…" She continued to look at the ring… "I'll prove everyone wrong… And if I have to go through life with a shattered heart… And without love… So be it! If that's what I have to do… Nothing's going to stop me from doing it…

"I'll prove them wrong." She yelled at the wall again… "I'll prove them all wrong! They will all finally realize; how much of a force that Bloom Ambrosius-Regina; is to be reckoned with!" She smiled a real smile for once… One that didn't hurt, and said… "But I swear that I will never have anything to do with Sky or his family, ever again, not unless my realm is in mortal danger."

_Unlikely to ever happen, _she thought optimistically, and then looked down at the document she had picked up a few minutes ago, again and looked at it once more…

"This _Julian Qurald_, may be a problem though. I ought to know by now that arranged marriages are hard to break." She smiled, and thought, _Well, that ass is at least worth a laugh.. _Then continued talking…

"I just guess I'm going to have to go to him and the royal family of Vitalion personally, and break it off." She sat and thought about the details for a second and then went on. "I'll have to make it short and sweet though; I don't want to get emotionally involved." She let out a tiny sigh and continued, "I don't think I could stand another heartbreak. With luck they won't even remember that I'm betrothed to him, or who I am for that matter. Guess I shouldn't have too much hope though… Royals don't usually forget these things, especially if it means money..." _I must have one heck of a dowry if I'm a Queen…_

She giggled at that but then lost heart again… "Not that I'll ever have much hope again, with my luck they'll probably force me to marry him..."

The fire-haired Queen let out the breath she was holding in and then turned round to face the empty hall way as if it were her death that awaited at the end…

"Might as well get this over with." She whispered, and with that in mind she stomped off to the map room.

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**For the person that asked... I have this posted on some of the other Winx sites, but if you don't mind, I'd like you to read it here. The one that is almost complete is horrible, well, it's almost the same, but the spelling sucks and I forgot to use past-tense. So please stick with this one. If you really want to know I'll tell you, but I'll tell you grudgingly... (I hate to feel inferior)**

_**-Winged Rose**_


	4. Prince Charming

(Sparx, Bloom's map room)

Bloom picked up what must've been the 500th map she'd looked at that day, glanced at the name engraved into the outside… _ERAKLYON_, is what it said; she gave a very nasty curse and threw it across the room… It landed with a thud followed by a few family heirlooms shattering on the floor…

"Ugh! I've looked through all of these damned things and there is absolutely nothing on Vitalion!" She snorted at her luck… "What happened? Did it disappear off of the face of the cosmos or something?" Bloom shrieked. "I mean, come on! I'm betrothed to this dude," _Did I really admit that? _"Wouldn't you think we'd have at least one map of Vitalion! How dimwitted can you get!"

With that she picked up the remaining three maps and tossed them at a wall… In mid-air they burst into flames… Just in time for Bloom to notice the map that hung on that wall…

She burst into an all out sprint as she noticed what was going to happen… "No, No, No, No, NNNNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO…" She screamed as she jumped in front of the flaming maps and felt them hit her chest, disintegrating the tight red leather tank she'd had on… With the burning maps in tow, Bloom smacked into the wall with the long lost map on it and slumped to the ground.

She lay in a heap for a moment, the Dragon Fire infused maps continuously trying to consume her body to no avail… Bloom finally moved a bit, the remaining portion of her shirt tacked to the wall by a stray nail; the Queen finally gave up and just tore the leather even further, and let the wall have it's prize of a rather nice sized piece of material.

Bloom discarded the flaming maps she'd been holding, into a puddle of green colored water next to the door… They emitted a nasty hissing noise as the fire burned and died; she watched as all this happened and then slowly got to her feet and turned round to look at the map that had caused all of the trouble…

She grinned ferociously as she saw what it was, but her anger still needed some venting so she decided the wall needed to be yelled at once more. "Aw! COME ON! I've been in and out of this room for three days trying to find that thing! And it was right behind me this entire time! Maybe I should just snuff this whole adventure and pretend I never found that stinking document…"

_Ach, but then I'd just be called a coward for that too… And I've already gone and swore I was going to prove everyone wrong on that account… I'm just gonna have to deal with this Prince the only way I know how…_ She laughed at this and continued… _And if I'm gonna have to break a heart to do it… At least it's not my own…_

With that thought, she walked up to the map, her crimson red heels clicking angrily with each step… Ripped it off the wall and plopped it down onto the huge oval table in the middle of the room.

Here eyes scanned over it a few times before she finally said, "Let's see here," and let out a low whistle. "By the looks of it… This _Vitalion_ is at least 1,000,000 light years away… I wonder why my parents wanted an alliance with such a distant kingdom. They must've been friends with the king and queen or something." _For all that the thing did say, 'This bond is to insure the safety of the two planets…'_ She snorted again and returned to the present…_ "_ I at least know my parents wouldn't marry me off to their enemy." _Or at least I hope they wouldn't…_

Even in the four years Bloom had known about her heritage her parents had still remained a well-kept mystery… Bloom had hoped that once she let the surviving Sparians return to the planet, she would be able to find out what had happened to her parents, and what they were like… From them…

For a few moments her finger trailed along the paths and roads that ran along every square inch of the map; until it finally stopped on a square patch that was labeled _THE GRAND PALACE OF VITALION…_ "Well, I guess the next thing I need to do is plot my P.L.S. (Portal Landing Spot) I don't want my portal dropping me off in another swamp," Bloom gave a low chuckle at the memory, then stopped abruptly, remembering how Sky had always made her laugh…

…When she was younger, and still trying to master her transportation skills, she had dropped herself, and all of her friends into the Black Mud Swamp, (Including Stella, much to the blonde haired fairy's dismay) when her original destination had been the Black Mud Café…

Bloom was still smiling a little as she remembered Stella's reaction to the predicament, but it soon faded as she remarked to absolutely no one… "Those times are over now. I'm never going see them again…" She groaned… "I might as well go and get dressed…"

Bloom walked up the steps, still being generally careful of fallen debris and what-not… During the three days she'd been looking for the map, she had used all of her extra time fixing the palace's surrounding grounds… Trying to save the palace for last… All the same, her room had been the first one she'd fixed, even before the rest of Sparx (unknown to everyone else), and she absolutely adored it.

She made her way up to her room, and about fifty paces from it she took out the key she always kept on her person and unlocked the door once she reached it. The door slowly creaked open to reveal her room; it was painted a beautiful blue and the wall right above her bed had the Dragon Insignia painted upon it in a shimmering gold-silver.

She stopped to stare at its beauty before she finally moved on and over to her walk-in-closet… The red haired fairy then stepped inside and was suddenly surrounded by hundreds of gowns, slacks, shirts, skirts, tiaras; and hundreds of other things that whirled around her, wanting to be picked… The closet had been enchanted long ago, and was always trying to please its owner.

"Stella would be so proud that I have such a large closet, why; I'll bet that it's larger then hers… Ha, like that'll ever happen…" She muttered, remembering her friend's three story closet back in Solaria.

The wave of regret passed quickly this time and she said; "What should I wear?" This made the closet extremely happy and the clothing all whirled around her as she inspected her clandestine. The clothing finally stopped whirring as Bloom pointed at two dresses, "Maybe blue would be the best," she pondered, then decided against it… "No I'm probably going to be anticipated to wear Sparx's colors."

The Queen then shooed away the blue dress and pulled the beautiful crimson red silk and taffeta gown, down off of its hanger… That hanger then seemed to smile proudly and went shooting off down the rack…

After the hanger was gone, Bloom finally noticed how beautiful the dress was… It was sleeveless… And it had a piece of red silk fabric that attached to one side of the collar and rapped around her neck to attach to the opposite side; to hold the bodice up… The waist of the dress was corseted and the bottom rolled down her legs in mesmerizing spiral plaits… "Well I do have to admit, it does make me look appealing…" She smiled weakly and then walked over to the shoe section of her closet, where the matching shoes immediately jumped into her hand; they were the same color as the dress and they had two leather straps, each, that wound up her entire leg, like ballet slippers, to be tied at the back of her thighs with a beautiful silk ribbon.

She was about to walk out of the enchanted closet when she remembered the final two pieces of her outfit, just in time for them to race out the door and conk her on the head… Her ember tiara and the gold band that rapped around her upper right arm, it held a copy of the Dragon Insignia and had the orange stones of Sparx for use of eyes.

She rubbed the top of her head to emphasize to the closet that she might just disenchant it the next time it pulled such a stunt… "Almost forgot the most important parts. Might not of been recognized without them. Oh," she said, considering the possibilities. "Closet! Hop to and bring out my cloak!" The thing whizzed around for a second and then produced a midnight black cloak… _Then again, if I arrive like this… It might scare them out of letting me marry their son… At the very least, I can surprise them…_

Bloom smiled at that and walked over to the precise middle of her bedroom, snapped her fingers and watched the blazing orange portal appear in front of her… As soon as it was fully formed, she stepped through and into the other realm…

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(At Vitalion, the palace's garden)

The young man sat unnoticed in the garden…

…Prince Julian was extremely handsome… His hazel brown hair flowed down his back where it stopped about a foot above his bottom, and he kept it neatly tied in the middle; like Helia did… His eyes were an interesting shade of brown, they looked as if they had a tinge of green to them some days, and others it looked like they were gray… (It drove the ladies nuts when they were trying to write him love poems about his eyes… They'd get half way through one day, and notice the next day that they were the wrong color) His height was rather disturbing for most people, he always tended to tower over the ladies when they wanted to be danced with or something at parties…

To tell the truth, Julian was rather relieved about that; for it meant less time talking to the fly-brained ninnies, then most Prince's had to. So, it came that he was very happy with his height of 6'8"…

His favorite place to spend his time was in the garden, so today he was dressed a bit less formally then he was expected to… He was wearing black pants and a white shirt with baggy sleeves, and a plain pair of brown boots that came up to the point right below his knees.

The Prince knew he was supposed to be out courting some pig-headed woman today, but he didn't rightly care… Seeing that he'd already told his parents his feelings about the woman; and they'd finally relented and replied… _Fine, we'll wait another month to see if the Princess is alive…_ They'd been having the same argument and the same agreement for years…

Julian sometime blessed the fairy that had supposedly disappeared eighteen years before, on her, and his, first birthday. She'd saved him from so many un-wanted marriages that he could've been stuck with, that he started thanking her daily.

And so today, having been saved from the twittery blonde, he'd come and sat under the shade of a large oak tree… And was reading one of the books he'd randomly picked up at the royal library, hoping for peace… When a large portal ripped open in front of him and a roaring began that made his ears ring, just as a figure clad in a black cloak that covered its entire body stepped out of it… The only thing he could see of the person/thing underneath it was a pleat of red fabric that had struggled out of the confines of the cloak itself.

His mouth hung open for what seemed like hours before he could finally speak and say, "What in Vitalion?" In a husky voice, that had a rather large twang of kindness underneath it.

"Well…" the person in the cloak whispered, and seemed to turn its head toward him.

The Prince realized it was a woman then and there… A freakishly tall woman, but a woman none the less… And even though the voice didn't sound evil, he still chose to stay in the shadow of the tree.

"…This isn't where I expected to end up." The woman went on after a moment… "But by the looks of it I'm pretty close to the palace." Bloom's skin tingled as she sensed another's energy coming from the dimness of the oak tree. Ever since the witches, even being that they were long dead, Bloom had been very safeguarded against everything.

The Queen looked over to the oak tree and saw a form in the shadows. The second she saw it she froze instantaneously and said calmly as if she were the bravest person in the universe, which by most people's standards she was.

She laughed, trying to make herself sound harmless… "I know you're there, you can come out now, who-ever you are." She then said under her breath.

Julian started at her words, though the laugh made him feel a little better, and thought to himself, _who is that? Is she an assassin come to kill me… _He shook his head, thinking that the owner of a laugh like that wouldn't be an assassin… _I guess I'll just have to go and find out… _His conscience then muttered, _Idiot!_

The Prince slowly got up and started to pull his sword out of its sheath, once it was fully out he ran forward like a mad man, his sword pointed directly at her throat and plowed on…

Bloom rolled her eyes and put up a fire wall, her assumption having been correct…

His sword ricocheted off the wall a second before he did and he fell back about three feet before she finally felt safe and put the wall down… "Humph, I expected that." She said and looked down at the nineteen year old man that had tried to spike her. _My god he is tall._ She thought to herself… She then laughed in her mind and thought that even though he was tall for a man, she was as tall, and that, in her heels, she towered over him.

"Who are you?" He gasped as he slowly pushed his aching body up from the ground and to a standing position… He groaned and then spat out… "And what are you doing here? You've got no right to be coming into this palace!"

"Well, I think the question is _who_ are you? And should I really care…" The figure said from underneath the hood.

"That's a first," Julian muttered, "Most everybody knows who I am on this planet." He paused then and looked up at the shaded face, then thought: _Is she really that tall?_ He came back to himself and replied. "I am Prince Julian."

"Oh, yeah, that's my top priority" Bloom scoffed and began walking in the general direction of the palace. "Besides, I'm not from here. You probably have no clue what or to whom you are speaking to, do you?" She said mockingly.

Julian had been left far behind when she began striding toward the palace, but those words intrigued him and he sprinted to catch up…

"Should I?" He questioned, as he got within range.

She looked down at him as he reached her side and replied, exasperatedly… "Probably, but that's not the point right now…" She sighed again and went on to say. "I guess I'll just have to introduce myself."

A single red tipped hand snaked out from the cloak's confines, and as it did so a few more pleats of red fabric escaped as well, and billowed out of the cloak's bottom…

"My name's Bloom, sound familiar?" She said, teasing him… Because how could he remember someone he'd met once? And that, once, when he was six months old?

"Not really," he said… Finding her voice irresistible… But took the hand anyway and kissed it, somehow guessing that she was an important person.

_A gentlemen_, Bloom thought to herself as he did so, and suddenly got a wild desire to curtsy, as is expected, but instead decided to hold onto her dignity… After all, she was higher in rank then him anyway.

"Emm… Yes, you were probably only a couple of days old the last time we saw each other, as was I." Bloom replied, disgusting herself at the informality…

Julian blinked up at her and said; "What's that supposed to mean?" He looked down a second, becoming apprehensive himself, seeing that he couldn't see her face…

With that Bloom took her hand out of his, which had lingered there after he had kissed it… And slowly removed the other hand from the disguise, she stopped for a second as her hands fingers touched the hood, but she knew she had to do it if she were to get this over with… So, she quickly brushed the hood back and off…

The Prince gasped as a sea of fiery red hair cascaded down her shoulders, ending about a foot above the ground… Her creamy milk-white skin blazed against the blackness of the cape, but through all that; the thing he noticed most was her striking sapphire eyes that seemed to soak up the sun and use it for their own brilliance.

"Yeah, I have that effect on people." She laughed and said her name again, except this time it was the full version… "As I've said before, my name is Bloom Ambrosius-Regina… And I am the crowned Queen of Sparx…" She held out the anticipation… "Oh… And Prince… Betrothed to you."

His mouth sagged open a couple more inches and he stared at her as if she were a goddess… "But, you were supposed to be dead," he stuttered.

"Dead, missing, _misplaced…_ Whatever you want to call it. But either way, I am standing right here." She chuckled and went on moving forward.

He sprinted to catch up with her again… When he caught up he was out of breath, but still managed to say… "But, what happened to you, you know, when your planet was destroyed?" He asked.

"Lets just say; that even I am not that sure. All I know is I have the Dragon Fire, and I've been the Queen of Sparx for four years."

"You're, you, you're the Queen?" It took him a minute to get it fully out…

She laughed at his troubles and just replied… "Yep, full blooded queen of Sparx, whether or not I want to be." She brushed the crown on top of her head sardonically.

A few moments before they reached the palace's doors she stopped and just stood their looking down at him so he could get his full of gawping…

"It's so nice to meet you." He said, still flabbergasted, and thinking that this could not in any possible way be the Queen of Sparx, yet…

"I am sure that it's nice to meet you too." Bloom said, still somewhat disgusted at the informality.

Bloom pushed the door to the castle open… a look of irony still on her face … and was about to walk inside the palace when he stopped her with his words.

"Ya know, you're beautiful."

Bloom winked at him… "Well, Prince you are obviously well trained in the art of flattery." And walked through the door…

His gaze followed after her as she walked up to his parents. _So, she's the one that saved me from all those arranged marriages? _He grinned.

_Wow, she is so beautiful,_ he thought to himself, _but there's something about her. Something that makes me think she's just been through a horrible experience. _His gaze flicked back to the door… _I can't wait to find out more about her… _He let out a sigh and went on… _I've never believed in love at first sight. But for some reason, I am pretty sure that just changed._

_I'm glad it was her I was waiting for… And no one else…_

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**Please R&R, I look forward to hearing what everybody thinks. I like to know that my story is good and worth writing, I've got self-doubts...**

**-_Winged Rose_**


	5. A Person Like Me

(Eraklyon, throne room)

_Now that that pessimistic Queen wanna-be's heart is broken, my plan can finally move forward… _The queen of Eraklyon thought to herself… _First we start by attacking the other realms… _She let out a frightening laugh and let her eyes fall upon the map that sat under her hands; _They will all fall one by one… Two by two… And three by three!_ She laughed again and ran her fingers across the solar system… Stopping just short of Sparx…_ No one is safe from this tyranny! Now that Sky's been put under that ingenious spell, my hands won't be the ones with blood on them._

_What else is he good for? He was dense enough to believe, his entire life, that I was a kind person… _She looked to the corner of the desk on which the map sat, and looked at the picture of Sky that sat in the corner; _At least he's worthy enough of being my pawn… _She chuckled, _Oh! Won't it just be delicious to see Bloom's reaction when she finds out that he destroyed Layla, and her planet?_

_Yes… First we must destroy hers, then work our way up to Sparx… Gain a little strength and glory before we mess with the big guns… But it is all _very_ necessary if I am to gain my place as High Queen… Not to mention… The gift of Immortality from the Golden Dragon, for becoming stronger then it…_

_Besides all that, Bloom shouldn't have the heart to interfere now, as long as Sky had done as the spell made him… Why would she have the strength? _That reminded her, she'd been wanting to talk to her son for an hour or so now, so she could begin briefing him on the plan's status…

"Sky!" She screamed and then primped her hair a bit before she yelled again… "Dear, could you come down here for a second?" She finished and then smoothed down her frilly, cream colored, lace and chiffon dress…

Not but an instant later there came the sound of boot heels hitting the floor; slowly, one after another in what could've been a rehearsed pattern… "Yes, Your Highness?" Said the prince, the second his foot hit the last step and he stood directly in front of Scariialla…

"Och, shove the formality son; besides… Tis me who'll be having to call ye, Your Highness, in a few days…" Remarked Scariialla a bit indignantly.

Even the spelled part of Sky new this was something uncalled for, and blinked at the realization…

Scariialla, being very proud of herself, just dove straight into the point; "You are to become King, with-in the next week son, you will rule by my side… And _together _the universe shall become _ours.._." The queen said hysterically.

For a moment Sky seemed to be out of it, his eyes flashed a golden color and all he could say was, "Yes, mother." Before she interrupted him again…

"Good!" The queen cackled… "Then the first part of the plan is ready for completion!"

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(Vitalion)

A few moments before they reached the palace's doors she stopped and just stood their looking down at him so he could get his full of gawping…

"It's so nice to meet you." He said, still flabbergasted, and thinking that this could not in any possible way be the Queen of Sparx, yet…

"I am sure that it's nice to meet you too." Bloom said, still somewhat disgusted at the informality.

Bloom pushed the door to the castle open… a look of irony still on her face … and was about to walk inside the palace when he stopped her with his words.

"Ya know, you're beautiful."

Bloom winked at him… "Well, Prince you are obviously well trained in the art of flattery." And walked through the door…

His gaze followed after her as she walked up to his parents. _So, she's the one that saved me from all those arranged marriages? _He grinned.

_Wow, she is so beautiful,_ he thought to himself, _but there's something about her. Something that makes me think she's just been through a horrible experience. _His gaze flicked back to the door… _I can't wait to find out more about her… _He let out a sigh and went on… _I've never believed in love at first sight. But for some reason, I am pretty sure that just changed._

_I'm glad it was her I was waiting for… And no one else… _Julian thought to himself as he stepped into the throne room behind Queen Bloom and quickly placed himself behind his parent's chairs…

Bloom smiled slightly as the Prince strode past her and took his place behind his parents… Her eyes hastily darted away from his form as her mind began to run in a circle that she didn't want it to…

She was saved from the amount of mental dragging it would've taken for her to stop her thoughts, when the king interrupted… "You are the Princess of Sparx?" He questioned, his voice full of obvious doubt... "She was said to have died eighteen years ago… On her birthday as well as our Julian's…" He looked her up and down, then glanced at his queen.

The fairy gave an unseemly snort and looked the king square in the eye; "Don't believe everything you hear," Bloom replied, attempting to keep herself from causing an untimely bald-ness in the king... She barely kept herself from doing it before she finally said… "If you do, you will not survive in this universe... And trust me… I've just recently been forced to learn life's game…"

This time the queen shot a glance at her husband that seemed to say; _Ah, well, she's a bit cynical isn't she? _The king looked as if he understood this, and shook his head… All the while saying; "Good point, but can you prove yourself as the Princess?" His gaze wavered a bit, for he feared the beautiful, fierce, looking woman that stood in front of him.

Bloom snorted again, feeling undignified that he'd called her 'princess' again… "Queen, actually, and yes. Of course I can." She suddenly started feeling the urge to yell at a vase that was sitting a little to her left…

"Gerald," the queen of Vitalion interrupted just before he was about to open his mouth again... "This girl need not prove anything, can you not feel the royal aura radiating off of her? Tell us your name, young maiden."

Before Bloom could get the chance to state her name the king went on; "I am still not sure," Gerald replied, his voice still holding apprehension… "The last time a girl came and said she was the Princess, she turned out to be one of the servants in our own palace." The queen threw him a look that clearly said: _I did not say _that_ one was the Princess!_

The fairy rubbed her temples for a moment, the fighting was beginning to rub her the wrong way… "Eh… Emmm!" Bloom broke up the glaring contest… "My name is Queen Bloom Ambrosius-Regina…" She said before she could find time to kill something… " And really it's no problem, I can prove my heritage…" Bloom hesitated for a moment... "But if I must, I would recommend stepping back," she smiled peevishly. "For what I am about to show you can be very dangerous."

With that, Prince Julian stepped out of the shadow of his father's throne, and moved to its side… Hoping that he could get a better view of what she was about to do…

Bloom glanced his way briefly, the single touch of her sapphire eyes darting down his frame, snapping the breath out of his lungs.

_Oh, yes there is a secret here… And I will find out what it is… _Julian thought as her eyes quickly snapped back to his parents.

Even though she could've just snapped her fingers to make the dragon appear, Bloom decided that she wanted it to be a bit flashier and said a fake enchantment… "Dragon Flame… You are my spirit… You are my protector… You are my power! Come forth and show yourself, oh mighty DRAGON!" She grinned at the awe in their faces as they heard this, and at the end of her words she snapped her fingers, so that the dragon would really appear…

The second her fingers made contact with each other, her entire body started glowing a bright crimson and the cloak fell from her shoulders… A strand of light began to loop around her body; it flashed a golden color before it widened and started to spin at a faster rate… After about twenty seconds of this it flickered and roared as it became a recognizable dragon… It continued to weave around her for a minute before it lay down on the floor directly behind Bloom, and the girl sat down on its back… Her legs crossing over one another, in one proud sweep.

It took a few moments for the drool to stop dripping out of the royal family's mouths, before anyone finally said anything…

When anybody _did_ actually get up the courage to open their mouth and talk, it was the king… "You are the Queen of Sparx." He stuttered… "But, where have you been all of these years."

Bloom beamed happily at him before she let go of her enthusiasm and finally answered… "For the first sixteen years of my life, I had absolutely no idea what-so-ever! That I was royalty, but then my best friend found me on Earth, while she was having a rather bad troll problem... Anyway, she took me to Alfea…" Bloom stopped a moment to remember the day… "I then graduated a year early because of my powers…" _Well, they don't deserve the whole story just yet… _Her mind interrupted; "I was crowned Queen at the age of seventeen." She finished, her voice dripping with pride...

"The youngest Queen in all history," Julian said absently, and out loud for once.

Bloom's eye twitched at the sound of his voice, and she looked over at him through her lashes…

The Prince noticed this anyway, even though it was discreet, and looked down… Thoroughly embarrassed… "How long have you known you had an arranged marriage to our son?" The queen asked... Noticing Julian's look, and trying to save him…

_Nice to see that he's got a good family, at the least… _Bloom thought to herself as she replied at the same time… "About four days…"

_She's responsible… _Lilca thought before she said… "And you still came, even though you know you didn't have to, being that we thought you dead?" She said incredulously…

The fairy inwardly groaned at how long the conversation was turning out to be… "Yeah," She said, looking the queen straight in the eye, from her perch on the dragon's back… "That's one thing I know about being royalty... You have to do things that you don't want to some times." Replied Bloom.

The king wasn't yet satisfied, so he asked… "Are you prepared to marry our son?"

"I guess you could say that…" Bloom remarked absent mindedly, thinking that her intentions were totally opposite… And she had no plans of ever marrying… Or loving another person…

Bloom; finally having had enough of this chittering; got up and stalked to the door, went through it, and outside… The Dragon following her the entire way…

The Prince, seeing his chance, walked up to his parents and began to complain… "Mother, Father, I don't want her to marry me because she has to… I want her to marry me because she loves me…"

_Ah, ha! His heart's finally been captured! _His mother thought as he said those last four words…

His father must've been thinking the same thing, for he glanced at his wife and nodded… "Son, you know that's impossible," He said anyway… "But there is no law saying you can't court her," the Queen cut in.

"Thank," He rapped his arms around her in a quick hug… "You Mother." Julian finished and shot off towards, and out of the door.

"Queen Bloom!" He shouted as he got with-in range… His shirt had become un-tucked and was bellowing out around him…

The Queen stopped dead in her tracks and turned around slowly, her nearly floor length hair whipping around her to blow with the breeze.

"What?" she replied curtly, her temper running on a short fuse for the moment.

"I know my parents can be well, weird, in the way they partake things…" The Prince started... "And you seemed kind of miffed in there… Besides all that, you were understanding towards their questions… But they just kept being rude to you until the end… How you can put up with it, makes me wonder…" He looked her up and down… "With the authority you give off… I wouldn't think that you'd put up with them like that… And behind that mask of yours… I can tell there's also someone different deep down… I can't help but wonder what happened to you to make you so…" He stopped for a second; "So cynical…"

Bloom let out a puff of air and just said… "You ask too many questions Prince… And if I were you I'd stop being so curious about people like me… Take my advice now, and find yourself a pretty little fly-brainer to marry… Mine is the kind of life you don't want to get involved with…" She snapped her fingers at those words and the Dragon that had been following her up till then, disappeared.

She began to walk faster to try and leave him behind, but Julian reached out just as she started to move ahead… And grabbed one of her arms with his, slender, strong hand.

The Queen quickly whipped her head around again to glare at him before she pulled her arm out of his grip and started to walk again… But, to her dismay, she found out that this Prince was persistent... Because this time, he grabbed her arm with both hands and forced her to stop and turn around to look at him…

Bloom's face burned a bright red as she realized exactly how close the proximity was… She pulled away again, this time with more force, but just succeeded in making the man even more persistent… He grabbed her one last time and brought her closer then ever, so that he could get a better grip…

"Like I said, I want to get to know you more. If you'll let me." Julian pushed, and held her arm a little tighter...

"Why?" Bloom replied, looking at him huffily.

He looked startled for a moment before he finally responded… "Well, you're not a fly-brainer…" He chuckled as he got a haughty smile out of her… "You're relentlessly kind…" He let his grip on her arm loosen; "Not to mention you're beautiful… Now will you give me a chance?"

"Ah, I'll give you a chance… But don't blow it Your Princely-ness." She shot him a play-full grin and turned away from him slightly, and pulled her arm free… Successfully this time… As she began to walk she felt a fingertip trail down a foot of her long hair and then fall back to the side of its owner before she could catch him…

"You know… You don't have to call me Queen…" She gave him one last impish grin before she walked off to who knows where, to think for herself for a little while…

Julian blinked at her sudden informality, he closed his eyes for a second longer, as if to clear them of her brilliance… He then opened them quickly, hoping to catch a glimpse of her as she walked away… But to his disbelief… She had disappeared… And unknown to him; she was only a breadth away, hidden in the shadows of a tree's branches…

He gave up on the thought of looking for her after a moment, and turned round to start walking back to his palace…

As Bloom watched his retreating back, she let out a heavy sigh and slumped down against the tree's trunk... Her mind beginning to wander as she saw him disappear behind the corner…

_No… I can't let myself fall in love again… _But her heart had already fled…

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**Thanks for the review guys! Please keep telling me what you think! R&R!**

_**-Winged Rose**_


	6. A Kiss and a Crown

(At Vitalion, Julian sitting in the garden)

_There is just something about her; I just can't put my finger on it though. It's as if there are two sides to her, the one I know now… And another one, that doesn't exist anymore._

"I wish I knew what it is." Julian whispered to himself.

"Wishes never come true," Said Bloom from some-where up in the oak tree Julian was sitting beneath.

Julian started, and looked up, staggered by the fact that she could sneak up on him so easily.

Bloom jumped down from the tree's upper branches, her red leather mini-skirt flowing out around her thighs (for it was no longer then that). She also had on a matching leather tank top and knee high crimson boots.

The instant she landed, fire pooled out around her feet as if the flames were ripples of the sea.

"At least they never come true for me." Bloom said, finishing her sentence.

"What do you mean... Bloom?" The word tasted funny on his tongue.

"That's for me to know, and for you to hopefully never find out, Julian." Bloom replied.

A tear formed at the corner of her eye and ran down her cheek. Julian reached up and gently wiped it off.

Bloom then looked down, and saw a picture of Sky float across her vision.

_Sky would always be there when I was down. He would always be by my side, there when I needed someone I loved more then the world, to hold me… But those days are gone now… I wish my life would just go back to normal,_ Bloom thought to herself. But then went back to the idea that she would never be able to be happy again.

Bloom had grown accustomed to waking up every day, without a glimmer of hope in her life, afraid to close her eyes, for the fear of the dreams that would not rest. Afraid to remember something that haunted her as if it were her own shadow.

Her life had become a hole that was so deep it could not be filled; the fear that she was alone in life, yet afraid not to be, the dread that she could never smile again without it being a lie.

She felt as though she were a specter, unwanted and feared by all that surrounded it. All she wanted anymore was the life that was never really hers in the first place. But another's, always controlled by the one person that had the power to break it.

Another tear rolled down her cheek as the memories of Sky came flooding back in one giant surge.

"Are you okay Bloom?" Julian asked as she sat down beside him on the grass.

"I wish I were, but then, my wishes never come true. So what's the point?" Bloom replied, as if asking no one.

"What happened to you Bloom? That could make you so cynical towards life." Julian questioned.

"It's still too fresh a wound Julian, hearts do not heal easily." Bloom replied, then looked even further down, realizing that she had just revealed too much to this stranger.

"You had your heart broken didn't you Bloom?" Julian said, taken aback.

"I not only had it broken Julian. It was torn out of my chest and stomped on until it shattered into a million minuscule pieces."

"I would never do that to you Bloom, you can trust me." Julian said and put his arm around her, suddenly realizing that she had no intention of marrying him.

"I wish I could believe that, but it's hard to believe anything anymore." Said Bloom sadly.

Bloom looked up at him, and Julian saw all of the pain that had hid so successfully behind her sapphire eyes for so much time.

"I'm sorry Bloom, but I would never do that to you. I want you to be with me… And I want you to feel safe." Julian whispered.

"The truth is Julian; I'm scared to love anybody anymore. Not after what happened." Bloom whispered back.

Julian then put his other arm around her and pulled her snugly to his side, then kissed her softly on the forehead. "What can I do to make you trust me?" Julian asked.

"I don't think there is anything anyone can do to make me trust again Julian." Bloom said softly.

Bloom's face paled as a thought hit her.

_Do I love Julian?_ Bloom asked herself, and then the answer came slowly.

_Yes._

Julian looked at her the second she thought that and said. "Bloom I'll always be by your side."

"How do I know that?" Bloom asked and got her answer a little differently then she had expected.

Julian remained silent for a second, still contemplating whether or not he should do something as crazy as this, but the part that loved this woman more then the universe won… And he gave her a silent, tender kiss on the lips.

Bloom just sat there for a moment; her eyes wide open as his lips were on hers. Then she let her lids droop and fall shut as she sank slowly into the warmth of it.

As he backed off, Bloom's eyes snapped open again, but she knew she'd been caught red handed, so she smiled and Julian saw a little bit of hope, life, and love seep into her sapphire eyes.

He then smiled back, and Bloom leaned her head on his strong shoulder.

In return Julian leaned his head gently on top of hers, and breathed in the sweet scent of her hair.

The feeling of Julian's head on top of hers brought back some memories of Sky that should be painful. But at the moment, became dulled and were soon forgotten.

"Bloom?" Julian whispered.

"Yeah?" Bloom whispered in return.

"I don't want you to be afraid anymore." He said a little louder.

"I'm not." Said Bloom, under her breath.

* * *

(Eraklyon)

"Sky," the high priest questioned. "Are you prepared to take on the full responsibilities of being King?"

"Yes." Sky replied in the hypnotized voice that had become known as natural.

"Are you informed of all the responsibilities? Guiding your people on the right path? Being able to take on any task? Even if it means war itself?" The priest continued in his booming voice.

"Yes." Replied Sky.

"Then with this crown that I place upon your head, I pronounce to Eraklyon and all of its allies that you are now the rightful King." The priest said this with a tone of finality.

The high priest placed the golden crown upon Sky's head: the very same crown that had been worn by his Father and every King before him.

Sky's mother smiled, and walked over to her son to place her arm around his shoulders. "I'm proud of you, son. You will do this planet proud some day. That is, after you destroy our enemies, and every other planet along with them."

"Yes Mother. I will follow your plan, and I shall destroy each planet, one by one." Sky replied.

"Good, do you understand that you will destroy Princess Layla's first?"

"Yes Mother."

"And do you realize that you shall not destroy Sparx until I say? For that I wish to see. I can't wait to see that puny Queen die… right in front of my eyes," the Queen said, and sashayed over to the throne, then continued. "Come son, this throne is yours now. Your father, bless his soul, is dead now. You shall take your proper place among us, the royals."

Sky smiled a smile so deadly it could kill with one glance.

"When do the troops and I leave? I am anxious to get started." Sky said maniacally.

"Humph, I'm certainly glad the thirst for blood runs in the family." The Queen whispered, knowing full well that it didn't.

_That is, whether or not it has been magically induced._ The Queen thought to herself.

"I think I shall retire to my chambers Mother. I wish to rest before the battles begin." Sky whispered in a fake hypnotized voice.

"Of course child." Said the Queen, yawning herself.

Sky walked over to the spiraling stone staircase and moved slowly up it until he was out of view. Then he began running, as if his life depended on it.

The moment he reached his room he burst through the door gasping for air and threw himself onto the divan.

"What is happening to me?" Sky shrieked to himself. "She's got me under some sort of spell, I can't believe she wants to destroy all of the planets but our own. No one can be that bloodthirsty. Can they? How long is this momentary freedom going to last? How long will I be able to think for myself before it returns."

"What I fear most is, what by all means! Did I do to Bloom? I know I did something, but I can't remember. I'm going to have to find her, before this thing overcomes me again. For some reason I've got this horrible feeling she's going to hate me."

(Vitalion, Bloom's room)

"How could I let myself fall in love? Especially right after what Sky just did to me? I must be crazy." Bloom mumbled to herself.

**(I wrote this poem; it's the poem from which this story and its name were derived.)**

Bloom walked over to the beautiful antique writing desk that sat in the middle of her room, and began to write. For writing was the only way she wished to express her feelings. Particularly after what had happened with Sky. She still couldn't trust herself. Even if she had been able to kiss Julian, she still could not find the strength to tell herself that everything would be ok again someday.

_I Just Can't Believe _

All I can feel is darkness,  
That oh so sweet feeling of death.  
All I can see around me,  
Is black…  
Shaded by the shadows of a life,  
That I don't want to exist anymore.  
Oh beautiful devoid of light,  
You hath save me from myself and my dreams.  
That one thing that can't hurt me,  
Is the one thing that may not be real.

I want to be blank of all feelings,  
God only knows that I need to be,  
Oh please… Would you take away my pain?  
So I could yet love again,  
I want to feel hope,  
But I fear to find it.  
For with that hope,  
I know shall come…  
People and adventures that want to hurt me again.  
And what will return with hope besides that?  
But light…  
That is all that I can see to come of painlessness.  
A blinding light,  
That will bring back the numbness of a beat-less heart.

I just can't believe that I am forced to live another day,  
For what reason I will never know…  
I have this impression,  
That I should no longer be able to breath,  
Yet something drives me on,  
Day after day…  
To take another step on a path I did not choose to take…  
I want to be rid of this feeling,  
Though I know it will never go away.  
Now I realize that the only thing I can believe,  
Is that my life will always be shrouded in a darkness…  
That I cannot shed,  
Nor would I ever dare to try again…  
For now,  
It is my only protection.

A tear slipped gradually down Bloom's cheek and she hugged her knees firmly to her chest.

"I just can't believe that I could ever love again. Yet why do I feel as though I do?"

(Julian's room)

"Well, I've gotten her to trust me, now I've got to make her love me. Because now, I could never live without her." Julian said to himself.

"I'll show her she can love me, and once I gain her heart. I will never lose it, no matter what. I don't know what happened to her, but if she stays by my side. She will always be safe, in my love's grasp."

* * *

**I re-did the poem in this chapter, if past readers were wondering what it was that looked different. Please, would you guys tell me what you think of the poem? I hope you like that chapter! Please R&R!**

**-Crystal Hauntress**


	7. Thoughts on Paper

(Vitalion)

"Bloom! Can I come in?" Julian asked from the opposite side of the double doors.

"Um!" Said Bloom in a panicked voice.

Julian then heard papers ruffling frantically as Bloom stashed the poem she had just written into the desk.

"Whew, that was close," Bloom assumed, under her breath. "You can come in now."

He pushed the door open and cringed as he heard the squeal of protest from the ancient hinges.

"What was that all about Bloom?" He declared skeptically.

"Nothing!" Bloom said as if the syllables were non-existent.

"Didn't sound like nothing," he murmured, glancing around the room to see if he could find out what she had been doing. And spotted a quill and ink pot.

He walked over to it and noticed a piece of paper sticking out of the desk. He tugged it out of the drawer and stared at it as if it was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen.

"…Stare into the abyss, and see the magic, there within the creases of the unreal...soar into the unknown, on wings that have never seen freedom..." He read from the paper and was about to continue when Bloom snatched it from his hand and stuck it in her jeans pocket.

"Wow, I didn't know such writing could exist. But is that how you really feel Bloom? It-it's so sad" Julian remarked silently.

"You shouldn't be reading writing before the author says it's ok, but yeah, what's it to ya?" Bloom replied, somewhat angry.

Julian smiled and took Bloom's hand in his, then started tugging her towards the door.

"Where are you taking me Prince?" Said Bloom teasingly.

"You'll see."

"I am not going anywhere." She replied stubbornly.

"Are too," said he, with that he swept her up into his arms.

Bloom gave him an evil look, but let herself relax into the comfort of his arms. Julian, in turn, grinned at her, the warmth of it reaching up into his eyes.

(Five minutes later)

"Would you put me down already! I am starting to get very annoyed here!" Bloom mumbled.

"Nope! Not until we get where I'm taking you and I know you won't try to escape, Miss Queen." Replied Julian.

"Oh, that's original. Using my own name calling tactics against me are you." Bloom snapped.

"I enjoy it when you get ticked. It's fun to see you tell off those snippety little maids once in a while." He said, pretending she didn't just insult him.

"Yeah, I got to admit that is kind of funny. But they really deserved it the last time."

"What did they do," Julian asked.

"Put a pink sock in with my favorite. WHITE! Angora sweater. Lets just say, it wasn't white when they brought it back to me." Bloom answered nastily and then silently hexed the maids.

"Girls… you're all obsessed with clothes." He alleged.

"Yeah, well, ya think I'm obsessed, go talk to my friend Stella of Solaria!" Bloom retorted.

"Whatever, you're still obsessed." He said back.

"I'll show you obsessed," Bloom incoherently muttered.

With that she snapped her finger, and began to blaze.

"Whoa," Julian yelped.

The second he said that, she disappeared in a spark of illumination.

Julian stumbled forward as her weight was lifted from his arms.

"Sheesh, for a second there I almost forgot she had magic at all!" He said to himself.

"Boo," Bloom whispered as she reappeared behind his shoulder. Then tapped him gently.

"Good God! You nearly scared the life right out of me Bloom," he snapped.

"Yeah, fun isn't it. Now come on, I'm not going to run away. Just lead the way." She returned.

Julian cracked up laughing and then said. "It's just over that hill, come on."

(Few minutes later)

"Wow," Bloom whispered as she saw a beautiful valley of blooming cherry trees slowly appear in front of her. "This is beautiful."

"I thought you'd like it. I figured it was time you took a break. You've been sad too long Bloom," said the Prince.

"Thanks," she said dreamily. The beauty of her surroundings seeping into her body, and slowly reaching her soul. Purifying it with each drop.

"This is the first time I've ever seen you truly happy." He said, considering how long she must have been alone.

"Yeah, I haven't been happy in a long time Julian. I needed this," Bloom's eyes wandered around her.

"This is the place I come when the whole royalty thing starts getting to me. Ya know, a little peace in a land of…" He let his sentence run off, as he looked for the right word.

"Stress?" She finished for him.

"Yeah…," he was suddenly cut off by a flash of light. "What the!"

"Well, that was certainly short lived" Bloom said, furious.

"You're telling me! What is that thing?" Julian yelled.

"I don't know, but whatever it is, I don't like it!" She yelled back over the howling sound. "It looks like some sort of portal, I'll have to transform and destroy whatever is coming through it!"

"Bloom no! What if it hurts you!"

"Julian, I have the Dragon Fire, it's not likely anything can hurt me unless they get extremely lucky. Trust me," Said the Queen.

Julian nodded his head in her direction as she transformed, and took flight, shooting like a bullet towards the light…

...As the light slowly engulfed her in its' rays Julian looked down and silently thought to himself: _I hope she's ok._

_By god! What is that thing!_, Bloom squinted into the light and was granted with no insight as to what the thing was.

"Give me a break already! I can't see anything through this light, what is going on up there? Is this person having a strobe light circus or something?" As Bloom let out a long strain of incoherent curse words, a figure started to appear in the distance.

"It is a portal," She whispered and went on with more caution. Knowing full well, whatever it was inside that thing it could hurt her if it got the chance.

"What are you, you creature of the darkness? Show your face! Accept your fate and maybe I'll let you keep your dignity in death!" Bloom flew further into the radiance and stopped again to survey her surroundings.

Her threat going unanswered, Bloom went on. "All right! I've had enough of this! Stop playing these games. Or I'll start playing my own."

"I come in peace", the figure said, still masked by the luminosity.

"Peace my butt! You are a peril to this society, and I am obligated to protect it. So, I think it's my turn to make a move!" Bloom laced her fingers, in the beginning of a spell.

"Mayak ladvian zutra!" Her hands began glowing as she finished the spell. She unlaced her fingers and a ball of light brighter then the one surrounding her appeared in her palm.

"Now let's shed some darkness, if you will, on the situation!" The ball of red light that had now settled in Bloom's palm started spinning and growing larger as it drew the blinding light to it. The ball grew black as it made the day slowly appear again.

"Now, are you going to show your face? Or am I going to have to force you! I've got more then you think up my sleeve." Bloom smirked and flew closer to the remaining light surrounding the cloak clad figure.

She waited there, floating for a few seconds before flying like a buckshot into the portal. Her hair streamed behind her as she entered it and was blinded once again by light.

"Show yourself! You can't hide, no one can, no matter how hard they try," Bloom screamed. Her sapphire eyes darted frantically back and forth, trying to find the culprit.

Suddenly she spotted the figure five yards to her right.

She shot out two orange rays of magic, they grasped their target and started pulling it towards her.

The unknown person struggled, writhing frantically to get out of its'relentless grasp.

As Bloom felt the figure struggling, she moved forward with lightning agility and gripped the body with her own arms.

She let the masculine body dangle in her arms as if it were nothing but a piece of tissue and felt it stop struggling as if it had found serenity.

"What's this? No struggling? Aren't we the weird one!" Bloom finally emerged from the portal.

She pointed one finger at it and it disappeared in an angry outburst of magic.

She dropped the cloaked figure at her feet "Who are you? Trying to attack Vitalion when I'm here is rather foolish don't you think?"

With that she ripped the cloak off its' back and gasped as she saw who it was.

Her mouth sagged open as she saw the shoulder length blonde hair twinkle in the sun.

"SKY!"

(To be continued)

* * *

**Thanks for reviewing each chapter Kira, I do take any and every suggestion seriously... Hope you enjoyed this one!**

**-Crystal Hauntress**


	8. I Never Want to See You

(And we continue!)

"SKY!" She stood there gaping as she realized that the person she had just dragged out of the portal was the person that had broken her heart, and that this person was slipping down on to the ground at her very feet.

Julian heard Bloom's cry of distress and ran out from the bushes where he had been waiting during the battle…

"Bloom? Are you ok? What's wrong?" Julian asked, feeling as if a great weight had been lifted from his shoulders, now that she was safe… Or so it seemed.

"Julian, I… I… can't stay, not with him, not with this 'thing' in my midst." Her eyes turned red with the first sign of tears as she said this.

"Why, what is it?" His eyes began to wander towards the body she had thrown so violently to the ground.

"Huh? Bloom, this is prince Sky of Eraklyon... He's one of my best friends." He looked once again at the unconscious king on the ground.

"You...you...you're his friend," Bloom stuttered and looked at Julian in pure disgust.

"What did _I _do?" Julian looked suspiciously over at Bloom, thinking he had found another element of her secret.

"I guess I have no right to blame you for what he did. It's not your fault that you don't know the real Sky." With that Bloom smiled and walked over to Julian so she could place her arms around him in an amorous, consoling hug.

Julian smiled and circled his arms around her in return, knowing now that he had at least made a dent in her tough exterior. His smile grew bigger as he leaned forward to let his lips meet hers, but he thought better.

But Bloom, she had a different thought… She moved slightly forward in his arms and gave him a kiss. Not an ordinary kiss, but a kiss like those she had once given Sky… Julian kept his eyes open for a moment, in shock that she had not held back. That didn't stop him for long, he hugged her closer to himself and let his eyes drift shut as he removed himself from the real world so that he could float into a universe of peace.

(That was what Sky awoke to.)

As his lids slowly flittered open, almost too heavy to crack, he let his eyes roam over to his right, where he heard sounds.

"Julian, are you there?" Sky asked, his vision still blurred by the fall Bloom had given him. He had not noticed what stood right in front of him.

With that Bloom eased herself out of her serenity, to look over to the voice… Almost forgetting, for a complete second, who it was.

Julian, having been drug out of tranquility himself looked slowly over to Sky, making sure that he still held Bloom safely in his arms… He knew something was wrong.

"Dang it already, did he have to wake up now?" Bloom said silently enough so that only Julian could hear her mumbled protest.

Julian then cracked up laughing, thus clearing the last bit of unconsciousness left in Sky's gaze.

As his vision cleared Sky's mouth opened slowly as if to speak, but instead it sagged as he saw his best friend holding _his_ girlfriend in his arms.

Bloom continued to stare into Sky's face as he wakened, and was tugging out of Julian's arms before she could think better of it.

Julian in turn held her harder, coaxing a gasp of minuet pain from Bloom, knowing that his so called friend had harmed her in a way unknown to him.

"Bloom, don't, you needn't be hurt again," Julian looked deeply into her eyes, becoming lost in the fathomless blue. But Bloom knew she had to do this, so she placed her hand on his shoulder in reassurance that she would be ok.

He released her then and she walked over to the dazed king. Stopping just in front of him to kneel down and look into his eyes.

"Wh… what, Bloom! What are you doing here. Are you ok!" Sky sat up then as if he had not been hurt at all and threw his arms around his 'should-be' girlfriend.

Bloom cringed as if he were a drop of acid that was slowly seeping into her skin, and pulled away.

Sky's eyes widened as he realized she would not let him near her.

"Can you not remember that you broke my heart Sky! I said I never wanted to see you again and I meant it! Now get back to your realm before I carry out my threat!" Her hands started glowing with a deep red flame that came to her only when she was extremely angry.

Julian could take it no longer, he stepped out of the shadows to stand by his sweetheart's side.

Sky looked at him with unwarranted relief. "Julian, you've got to help me!" Sky said, having lost all hope that Bloom would help him. Knowing for sure now that he had done something bad that he could not remember. (He had not quite heard the part where she had told him, he had broken her heart.)

"I do not help those who have hurt the people I love! Whether or not you were my closest friend, does not matter, you mess with Bloom… That just doesn't matter anymore." Julian walked up to Bloom's side and put his arm around her.

"You...you don't understand Bloom!" Sky said, once again turning to her for help. "I… I was under a..." Bloom cut him off.

"I don't care what you were under Sky! You broke my heart! And nothing can ever change the past! Now leave, and never come back." Bloom yelled at him, and walked out of Julian's reach.

"Cantriala!" She yelled and her signature fire portal opened behind him… And for the second time that year, she shoved Sky through. Without a care in the universe, to where he landed.

Bloom closed the portal and looked at Julian, "Now you know."

* * *

(Eraklyon, we find Sky) 

Bloom's voice echoed through the portal into Sky's realm as he dropped into the courtyard of Eraklyon's palace.

"I said I never wanted to see you again Sky!" The words continued to reverberate in his ears as he looked at the last eminence of fire coming from the slowly dissolving portal.

"What did I do to her? I knew I did something! But the last thing I can remember is her kiss… And her loving arms around me. Then the spell took hold, what am I supposed to do? I've ruled out all hope that Julian'll help me. But the way he held her, the way he protected her, like I used to; it's as if… As if… He loves her! And she loves him back… The only person she ever looked at like that was me." Sky's eyes wandered once more to the charred remains of grass where the portal had opened.

"Why do I feel as though my heart has been torn out of my body… When I do not know the full truth? Why does my conscience keep telling me that I have done something totally and utterly wrong?" With that Sky let his head fall into his lap, where it remained until he did not wish to wallow in his own self-pity any longer.

"She wouldn't even hear me out… Now she might not know that the realms are in danger until...until it's too late! Once this thing over takes me, I'll be forced to destroy all of the realms!" As his body sagged with grief, he sat down on the shore of the lake by the royal family's palace.

"What am I to do," Sky asked once more and went on speaking to himself. "I can feel the spell's power pulsing through my very veins. I can feel how evil it is. I... I just can't believe! That my own mother did this to me, I can't believe that she could make my one and only true love… Hate me." He paused before saying the last two words.

"SSSSSSSKKKKKKKKKKKYYYYYYY! Darling, do you mind if your loving mother joins you?" Sky's eyes shot up with panic as he heard his mother's voice.

_No! Not again! Not now!_

"Yes mother," he said, mimicking the hypnotized voice.

"No need to pretend darling, I know the last spell wore off. So you can stop making a mockery of my powers. You see, I couldn't let you find out about my plan. I knew if you did, you would try to stop me. But I certainly fixed that didn't I?" A maniacal grin crossed the Queen's face.

"But why Mother!" He questioned. "Why do you insist on ruining my life?" He looked pleadingly up to her.

"Oh, but darling. It's not your life I'm looking to ruin. It's Bloom's, and everything that doesn't have a drop of my blood in it!" The smile grew larger yet.

"But why!" He asked again.

"Why, you ask? Tell me Sky, does everything have to have a reason? Do you have to see everything, just to believe it? But if you must know, I am destroying her, because I hate her, and I hate this universe! Truth is, she doesn't deserve you! No one does, and I'm going to ensure that!" She put her arm around Sky's shoulder, he flinched, and she went on.

"We're going to rule the universe, you and I. But I'm afraid, Sky, that I'm going to have to put you back under the spell. For, I don't wish anyone, not even my own son, to truly know about this." She said and looked him in the eye, prepared to unleash the obedience spell yet again.

"Wait!" Sky screamed, beseeching his Mother's attention.

"What?"

"Why take the spell off of me? If you don't want me involved in the first place?" His eyes blared the question.

"To gloat, of course! And to see your face as your life slips out of your own hands!" With that his mother started chanting the spell.

"Life becomes mine! Show me the power! Give me obedience!" As the spell finished Sky doubled over as a burst of pain erupted inside of him and all control was given to his mother yet again.

As he lay unconscious, the Queen said the one thing that would change thousands of lives forever.

"War!"

* * *

**Sorry I haven't been putting chapters up lately, I got a new computer and my parents had this crazy idea to put blocks on it, it took me a while to hack through them... Oh well, it's fixed now, no use living in the past.**

**Crystal Hauntress**


	9. Consider the Wound Open

(Vitalion)

As Sky disappeared into the portal Julian held Bloom close to his chest… Knowing now, that his life long friend, had in some unidentified way, betrayed him.

Bloom stared into the abyss, seeing her long lost boyfriend had made memories swim across her vision. A tear made its slow path down her cheek, and as it dropped silently to the ground she slumped against Julian's chest, and pictured herself as she used to be… A kind soul, without a care in the world to what went on around her as long as she was with Sky.

Seeing his face had made her feel as though a poison tipped arrow had lodged in her chest… With the fatal toxin slowly seeping into her life blood until she no longer cared to live… No longer feared death, until all she really wanted was for the pain to end… So she could slowly slip into the grasp of the unknown.

Julian let her stand there, for a minute, in his arms. Letting her keep her feelings bottled up inside of her, until he could no longer stand seeing her go through the pain alone.

"Bloom, how long has it been? Since you last let your honor have a break, and just let yourself weep? How long has it been since you last put your life in another's hands, and let them take your agony away for a few moments? And how long has it been… Since you trusted someone?" Julian said and pushed Bloom away to arms length so he could look into her eyes.

"It's been a long time Julian. But you didn't go through what I did." Bloom looked down for a second then looked directly into Julian's eyes and let him see what she had gone through.

He was mesmerized for a moment. Startled by the intensity of her sapphire blue eyes. Then without warning all of what had happened to her, played across her vision and seeped into his permanent memory, by way of magic. Until the pain was as much his as it was hers.

He saw Bloom and Sky's first kiss, all of their battles… He saw them holding one another tightly in each other's arms as if they would never let go. He saw them laughing on the beach; and he saw the moment when she had came out of the Dark Bloom's grasp, and held Sky as if he were priceless.

Then the visions changed from those of happiness, to those of sadness beyond his belief.

What he saw scared him. He saw Bloom running to be in Sky's arms. Then he saw them walking up stairs to a beautiful room. Then everything changed and he saw them sitting on a bed... Bloom with a horrid look on her face.

Bloom let him deeper into her thoughts then, and he heard what Sky said to her.

_Bloom, there is someone else.  
Your best friend Bloom.  
I am leaving you Bloom.  
I don't love you anymore Bloom.  
It's been going on for months Bloom._

She forced him out of her mind then and looked down.

"Bloom, I didn't know." Julian stuttered as her memories flew across his vision again and again.

"I know you didn't… But now you do." Bloom said and was starting to pull away from him.

"No Bloom, you've suffered too long. It's time for you to let yourself free." Julian then pulled her close to him as she let herself weep for the first time in over half a year.

"You...you...know…you...don't...have…to.. do...this right?" Bloom said in-between sobs that made her whole body shake.

"Yes, and I don't care, because I love you Bloom," he kissed her forehead and became silent.

"The last person...that said that...to me was Sky." She said and continued to cry, soaking Julian's shirt with tears.

"Well, at least I mean it," with that he took her over to a bench so they could sit down.

Her tears finally slowed down as Julian stroked her hair.

"Most people wouldn't put up with a crying girl," she said, her voice still quivering a bit.

"Ya know, I am not like most people. And I want you to know Bloom, that I'll never leave you."

"I think I can finally believe that." Bloom said and let her head rest on Julian's chest.

* * *

(Vitalion two days later)

"Have you seen Queen Bloom?" Julian asked the nearest man at arms.

"No yer majesty. Haven't seen the young Queen since she was snooping around th' armory." The knight said and looked away sheepishly.

"What's that look for Seamus?" Julian said to his old friend suspiciously.

"Well, ah, we found the people guarding the armory taking a wee nap sir." The knight replied and prayed for his life, knowing that the prince had a temper like a time bomb at these times.

"What! You're telling me that trained guards, our guards! Let the most important person in this castle escape their sight, right under their very noses too!" Julian yelled and started to pace up and down the long hallway. "Where would she go with whatever she took out of there?" Julian asked himself, settling down, but feeling anxiety grow every second he didn't know where his one love was.

"Sorry sir," was the knight's quiet, if not silent reply.

"It's not your fault Seamus," Julian said and placed his arm around the old knight's shoulders, gave him a slight squeeze, let go, and walked off in search of Bloom.

As soon as he rounded the corner he let his deep voice ring out of his chest and fill the hallways, it boomed back to him in an echo and he called again.

"Bloom! Are you ok? Where are you!" His voice reverberated back to him once again and he was about to call out for the third time when all of the sudden he heard a loud ka- boom.

The halls were abruptly filled with the sound of guard's running feet and the maids panicked screams.

Then as quickly as the first, another boom sounded, larger then the first, but this one was different. For after the sound dimmed, a brilliant orange light filled the entire palace and without warning Julian yelled out in panic himself.

"Bloom! Where are you!" He started running towards the other side of the palace where the blasts had come from.

He stopped abruptly as a door wrenched out of its frame and whizzed over his head, nearly accomplishing the feat of burning off his eyebrows…

It burst into strange red flames and burned to ashes within seconds.

_No ordinary flame could do that._ Julian thought to himself. _And no ordinary flame is red either._

He stepped silently over to the now door-less opening and looked through.

A gasp escaped the confines of his mouth as he saw Bloom floating in mid air, surrounded by the strange red fire. As she floated, she chanted strange words that Julian could not understand. But all the same he could feel the strange power of them rumbling around the entire stronghold.

"Bloom?" Julian whispered and slipped carefully through the doorway. The idea of stepping on one of the many strands of red fire snapping out around Bloom like whips did not excite him.

"Are you ok?" He asked, worried that she was in danger and was not controlling this weird power.

Bloom hardly heard this but hear it she did and her eyes shot open so she could look at him.

His eyes widened in return as he saw how the normalcy sapphire blue irises now glowed an orange-red.

"What's going on!" He shouted and Bloom closed her eyes again, she chanted a few words, ending the spell and her concentration.

Her eyes still glowed with the Dragon Fire as she walked over to him. They slowly lightened to their normal color, yet a luminosity remained, making her eyes one shade lighter.

"Could you not of waited a minute longer?" She yelped.

"Sorry! What are you doing in here in the first place?" He asked back, a little miffed. "No, that's not my first question… What were you doing in the armory in the first place? And knocking out guards with spells for goodness sake?"

"This," she said and took out a spiky root.

"Harmoine, but why do you need that herb? It's dangerous, that's why we keep it in the arsenal in the first place." Julian said.

"It is the key ingredient to that potion." Bloom replied, pointing at the cauldron she had been pouring her magic into when he showed up.

"What does it do?" He asked, his curiosity pricked.

"If I had finished that potion it would of been able to save one life, no matter how close they are to death." Bloom said and looked down, the root had pricked her finger, a single drop of blood fell from the tip.

"Wow, I'm sorry, I didn't know. I wish I could go back and change the past..." Bloom cut him off then.

"No use in wishing." She said and let him go on.

"Either way, I'm sorry. How long did it take to make?" Julian asked.

"A year, I started it in case I had to save one of my friend's lives, or even Sky's." She said and then continued. "I left it be until now, I didn't care if anyone was in danger anymore, till I met you… So I decided to try and finish it. I had a renewed purpose."

"Wow, can it be fixed?" He asked.

"I think so, but it'll take a while." Bloom replied.

"I'll support you, but I think you should go outside next time you try to finish it." Julian said and looked at the door.

Bloom cracked up laughing and the couple walked over to sit on the floor by the hearth… Bloom began work on reverting the thing's power so that it would heal instead of kill… Little did she know how soon she would need it, for if she had known, she would of made it faster…

* * *

**The first half of this chapter is one of my favorite parts in this story, personally I feel it's a new beginning... Or maybe it could be a new end.**

**Little Ammore- Still, thanks again!**

**Crystal Hauntress**


	10. Realization

(Eraklyon)

The blonde headed King stood on the steps leading from the palace courtyard. He looked towards the sky in a trance-like state, the only movement visible on his body was the rise and fall of his chest as he breathed in the surrounding air that smelled of: black powder, gasoline, and the slightest twinge of magic.

A large bomb detonated within a few feet from the king, yet he remained there; un-moving, silent, and relentless in his quest of universal domination. Behind his back and in front of him, the air shuttered with the shear force of the noise. The sounds of war exploded in his ears as if the grenades were a part of him. The accursed screams of Tides' dying soldiers surrounded him on all sides. But the King did not flinch, his eyelids did not blink, and not a noise did he make... His shoulder length hair tousled in the wind as the sound of nearly silent footsteps came up behind him and halted a yard away.

"Good, darling, good." The old queen said slowly, then placed a silk clad arm around her son's shoulders. "We shall have universal domination soon, oh so very soon." A mischievous light lit the old queen's eyes as she went on. "Yes, you shall make a good king after I pass on, and with this win under our belts, no one will dare challenge us. Not even that _girl,_ not that she'd even dare; what with you having broken her heart after the spell I placed on you took hold."

"Yes, my beloved Mother." The King said in the voice that wasn't _exactly_ his.

The Queen squeezed his shoulders, then let go. King Sky stayed there, stiff as a thousand year old statue. And that way he waited, until his mother had disappeared from the battle grounds and he was left alone again to collect his thoughts for the next move he would make on the chess board he liked to call War.

Eraklyon's warriors fought around him, they were almost completely blinded by the idea of near victory and the blood that gushed around them in large flows as their swords pierced the flesh of those they thought enemies. They were so blind in fact, that they hadn't even noticed in the seven month span since the first promise of war had come. That their own King, the very person that stood in front of them every day. Was not himself. Hadn't even noticed that he was never _really_ there, not _really_ what he should be… Or used to be.

As the general came up to his King and told him that the war on Tides had been won. The King just stood there. The only sign that he had heard the old general, being the slight smile that crossed his lips. The general stood there for a second, thinking that the Prince he used to know was never like this. But like all the others; he passed it as normal and walked on. Leaving the King to decide the next planet that would feel Eraklyon's wrath.

"Hmph, this was too easy!" The King shouted over the sounds of battle, his voice sharpened with the twang of evil. The combat suddenly stopped, all of the warriors turned to the King. There was dead silence, then the hills rang with the sound of Eraklyon's cheering soldiers.

King Sky sneered then threw up his arms in victory.

"Long-live the Warlord!" The soldiers chanted over and over again.

"The universe will crumble in our hands." The King whispered to himself. He then swung around and walked off towards the hover ships, to set off on the track to their next blood-spattered victory.

* * *

(Vitalion)

"Julian!" Bloom yelled, her scream for him pierced through the air like a freshly sharpened spear. As the cry of panic hit his ears, he ran out of the library that wasacross the hall from the throne room and started in the general direction of the panicked cry.

"Bloom!" Julian bellowed, the sound of it echoing into every crevices of the palace. He was about to yell out again but was cut off as Bloom's friendly bunny Kiko rounded the corner, his ears spinning like helicopter blades as he flew towards the prince. With that the small rabbit rammed into Julian's chest and made him stumble a few steps to catch his balance. "Whoa, WHOA! Little guy, where's Bloom!" The prince asked, trying to keep his calm so he wouldn't squish the fuzzy creature that he now held in his arms.

Kiko then started to chitter frantically, pointing every which way until the only thing Julian could make out of the situation was that he was totally and outright confused. "Stop it ya little fuzz ball!" Julian screeched, the fuse of his temper burning dangerously low. "Stop giving me a headache and take me to her." He continued, silently counting to ten in his mind.

The gray and white bunny nodded, then flew out of the prince's arms in the direction of Bloom. Julian stood there motionless until the fed up bunny came shooting back at him and grabbed his shirt's sleeve and started to forcibly tug him in the right direction.

As the funny pair shot across halls and stairways, amazed bystanders stopped and stared at the sight. Julian didn't care though, all he cared about was getting to the Queen of his heart.

Finally they ran around the last bend to the south-eastern tower,Julian groaned then as he bent his head up and up until the end of the spiraling staircase was in his view.

"She's up _there_?" Julian asked dumbly and looked at the rabbit (as if Kiko could answer).

In turn Kiko nodded furiously and started pushing the prince towards the landing.

"How ironic, prince having to go up 500 steps to get to his one true love." Julian muttered and started deftly up the stone stair case knowing that at some point he would have to stop and look down; he stopped half-way up to look down at the ground. His vision spun, and he felt the better part of his lunch start coming up in his throat… For the prince, was scared to death of heights.

Julian shuddered and gasped frantically to keep from vomiting and continued on his way, each step he took felt like he was lifting an anvil, the fact that it got colder as he went up did not help one bit.

As he collapsed on the last step he looked towards the door that entered into the tower's only chamber and let the nausea swim out of his vision. The nausea gone,he got to his feet and yanked the heavy, solid cherry wood door open.

The prince looked warily (and gratefully) inside and saw Bloom leaning three feet out of the tower's only window. "Bloom!" He yelled for the second time that day, his vision finally fullycleared as he ran towards the window and rapped his arms tightly around her waist; fiercely dragging her fully into the room. They fell onto the floor with a loud thud, Bloom glaring at him the entire way down.

"What in the world were you thinking?" He questioned, his voice dangerously low.

"Not now!" Bloom shouted in his ears and went on. "You've got to see this!"

The Queen of Sparx then dragged him over to the window and placed her hands on both sides of his head in the beginning of a seeing spell. "Avonlay decetion yavoclray," Bloom said and kept her long fingers planted firmly on his temples.

"Ah, Bloom..." Julian said, trying to tell her that he was afraid of heights. But was cut off as his vision spiraled out of control for a second, then came back as if he had been turned into a hawk.

Bloom (knowing the signs of aworking seer's spell)then thrust his head further out the window and aimed his eyes in the right direction.

What he saw was amazing at first, but slowly, almost gently the spectacle became a little less exciting, and a little more frightening... It was as if he were living the thing that was -in truth- thousands of miles away... Bombs exploded around him, once beautiful houses, were charred black with fire… Musical instruments lay strewn across the black valley. The Harmonic Nebula was now in tatters, not a soul could be seen for miles… Besides the soldiers that had done this ghastly, disgusting task. Julian let his eyes wonder slowly around the planet's surface; everything was much like what he had already seen. And much to his dismay atear formed in the corner of his left eye for those who had lost their lives to this unforgiving warlord... With that, a thought hit him like a freight train. He couldn't stop himself from asking it, though he feared that if he voiced this question. The people on the Harmonic Nebula would actually hear him, but he said it any way... He had to know; "Bloom," the prince asked like a ghost.

_Yes Julian?_ Bloom replied through magic, so only he could hear.

"Who's doing this?" Julian whispered.

_I'm afraid to tell you Julian, for it is horrific beyond compare with even the vilest of people._

"A person who would do this is the vilest, I must know Bloom." He replied.

_You won't like it._

"I know," Julian said with loathing.

_This is your choice._ Bloom said, then gave up on trying to convince him otherwise, and so, with that Bloom tilted Julian's head a little to the left and upward a bit until the destructive maniac was in his view. Julian's vision blurred for a split second, as he saw wisps of shoulder length blonde hair whipping in the wind, it then focused as Bloom chanted a word to make it do so... Then he saw him.

"No!" Julian said, finally giving up and shouting. His arms flailed out as he tried to grasp the King's neck and throttle him.

Bloom, afraid that Julian would fall out of the window and take her with him; pulled him inside and took her fingers off of his temples.

The prince's eyes stayed clamped shut as if he were reliving the horrible moment when he realized who the warlord was. (Which he probably was)

Bloom, seeing this rapped her arms around his shoulders and rocked him like a child… Until she was totally fed up, thus giving him a rather firm shake. "Julian, you weren't really there, wake up! You're ok, nothing can hurt you now." Bloom said _somewhat_ gently.

The Prince then gasped frenetically for air and calmed down. He turned to her and started babbling like an idiot. "What are we going to do Bloom? We can't let him do this to all of the planets."

"Julian, my Prince, I have no intention of involving myself with that pig's rampages of destruction. If he gets as far as our planets I'll be forced to do something… But I made a vow to myself that I would never have anything to do with that heartless monkey… I don't take to breaking promises, especially to myself." Bloom remarked quietly and looked off into the distance.

"You're going to do nothing?" Julian said, silently understanding her pain, yet still hoping she would do something.

"Nothing," she repeated.

* * *

**Thanks for all of the reviews for those last two chapters! I'm now going to go and redo the first chapter, so I wouldn't mind if you guys took a look at it too, it was simply just no up to my standards... Oh well!**

**-Crystal Hauntress**


	11. A Captive and Questioning Truth

(Harmonic Nebula)

"My King, permission to speak Sire?" The Captain of Eraklyon's guards said warily.

"Permission granted, Captain Dosian," The broad shouldered King replied.

"Harmonic Nebula has relinquished all power to us, Your Highness." Dosian remarked and then went on slowly. "We have captured the noble's we could find, though I regret to report that the King is no-where to be found. But we happened upon a pretty little trinket that should make up for it three times over."

Sky gave a deep guttural laugh and responded. "Sounds to me that this is more then a pretty trinket, Dosian; I shall rather enjoy this captive. Bring _it_ forward."

"Of course my liege," Captain Dosian stated, a laugh of his own then accompanied the King's. With that Dosian marched off in the direction of the temporary prisons; in search of the captive.

He walked on for miles until he finally spotted the blue flag flapping over the stables that they called the prison.

"Where is the recently acquired princess, Sergeant Calwieght?" Captain Dosian said, his voice just loud enough to be heard over the sounds of clanking chains.

The Sergeant was about to open his mouth in the beginning of a word; but was cut off as the person he was looking for called out in a very unseemly manor. "Yo! Dork for brains. I'm over here!" The princess called out, "do your own dirty work and get me yo'h self!"

"Oh, hoh, bbuurrnn!" Dosian called out over the racket and walked over to the cell holding the princess. "You know my sweet..." He continued, reaching through the bars to run a finger under her chin. "...I'd watch who I insulted if I were you, caus' one day. You're gonna regret talking to me thus, when I'm tanning 'Ur skinny little hide for a new pair of boots!"

"You aint much of a threat yourself. Walking in here unarmed an' all, this stuff you're doing is plain wack!" The incarcerated person shouted.

With that Dosian opened the cell, the door slamming on the black granite wall next to it.

He grabbed the captive by the arm. The Princess let out a tiny scream as his gnarled fingernails dug deep into her milk white flesh.

"Come on! And don't make a scene, or I might do something that I _won't_ regret."

"Why should I be afraid of you? Ya two faced playa' hater!" She snapped.

"You insult me, my little wench." He said calmly and led her towards the King that now stood on the steps that once led to a beautiful palace.

He looked down, his head shielded by the midnight black cloak.

"Well, Princess Musa, I would of expected more of a fight from you and you're planet." The King said, paused and continued. "I guess I was too soon to judge your power and rank." The King then let the hood fall back from his head.

Musa stood there; mouth gapping dumbly for many a second. Then with a roar of outrage she hurtled forward towards Sky, at least that was the general idea until her magically reinforced restraints pulled taught and her arms nearly pulled out of their sockets.

She did not give up though, for she still had her voice. "You traitor! How could you? You've betrayed us all, Bloom especially..." She stopped as a thought hit her. "How could you? Have you destroyed her and her planet already? She loved you Sky! We all did, we all _still_ do!"

"Ha! How could you people still love me! I've destroyed half of your planets!" He replied sarcastically.

"Because there is no possible way that a dude like you would do this on a whim! Not unless he was some how otherwise enticed... No matter what you do to us, you can't break our loyalty to you, but right now, I know with all o' my heart that Bloom is out there right now… Crying her eyes out cause she thinks you've gone loony! Which rightly you have, but that's not the point." Musa said and then paused for breath.

"Yeah right, she never mattered to me... She was just another ploy in my plot." Sky remarked and smirked.

"I'll believe it when I see it, but you know better then me. That if she new you are so obviously under a spell, she would do anything and everything in her power to save you. Because she loves you, whether or not you or she knows it right now!" Musa cried.

The King made a grim face at that and then turned to Dosian. "Take her out of my sight, put her with the rest of the captives." He said to the awaiting Captain.

Dosian yanked on her chains and they turned around to walk towards the prisons again. Musa's head hung low with grief and fear as they walked slowly, the links dragging painfully on her wrists, waist, and ankles.

"Oh, and Dosian, make sure she doesn't get anything to eat tonight. _It_ needs to learn its place."

"Yes sire!" Dosian yelled over his shoulder and kept on walking, captive in tow.

* * *

(Vitalion)

"I respect you, and all of the decisions you make Bloom. You know that," Julian said, his dark brown eyes solemn.

"I know Julian, how could I forget, it's hard to remember sometimes if Sky ever gave me as much respect as you do." Bloom remarked, her voice coming out as if she wasn't the one speaking, but a small remembrance of her.

_Do I deserve his trust?  
Do I deserve the love that he gives me day after day?  
Do I deserve the feeling of safety that comes only when I'm in his presence?_ Bloom thought, the visions of past coming back once again to haunt her.

"I respect your decisions," he repeated. "But I can't help but think that this choice of yours is guided more by a broken heart then wisdom. Can you stand by and let these innocent people suffer? It's not right... You must save them... I love you and you know it... I would never leave your side, even in the face of danger. I wish I could do something to make you release the past, I wonder sometimes if my love is enough for you...Or if you're never going to be able to let yourself free of what is no longer there... Tell me Bloom, do you really love me? Or that distant past that you cannot, will not, and never will touch again?"

_Does he deserve the danger, and fear that comes of being in love with one such as yourself?_ Said the part of her mind that constantly tormented her. _No, he doesn't deserve it, but nor does he care because he knows as long as you're there. He'll be safe, and his heart will never break...Only because of what you've been through, only because of what Sky did to you, did you meet him; and once again feel some resemblance of peace and happiness. Let it go._ There was a long pause as those words passed through her head, but as it ended, his words penetrated the thick guard she had had on her thoughts.

She looked up at him from her perch on the tower's only window seat. As her gaze met his he saw that her eyes had turned a navy blue with the fear of the things that haunted her every day, and every night, in dreams... nightmares that would not end.

"Bloom..." Julian whispered, attempting to apologize, but being cut off as she rose and started talking in a near silent voice.

"No... Don't apologize, I needed to hear that..."

"Bloom..." He said again, thinking to apologize even though she had said not to.

She shook her head with that and got up to take a few steps closer to him. "I'm trying to put Sky behind me, I truly am, but you can have no idea what it's like to have your heart shattered..."

"I can, and do, Bloom, because right now you're ripping it apart slowly but surely... Seeing you like this is... is... is horrible. You don't deserve what you're going through." He said haltingly.

"I'm sorry."

He nodded his head but couldn't help but asking his question again. "Do you really love me? Or do you love the past?"

She sighed, seeing that she had done some unwanted damage; and that some-how she had to prove her love to him.

_You know what he needs..._ Her conscience said.

With that she walked over to him and put a finger under his chin to lift his face up so his eyes would look into hers.

"You may be a prince, Julian... But you are the king of my heart. Don't forget that... I've had a life more difficult then anyone rightfully deserves, and it's gonna keep getting more difficult, it just keeps getting harder and harder to deal with it." She replied.

"What can I do to make it better?" He said.

"Nothing, but love me... and never leave me... I do love you... No matter how distant I can be at times... I love you." With that she bent her head up a little bit and let her lips meet his... In a kiss of such pure innocence; there was absolutely no way in the world that it could have been faked.

* * *

(Eraklyon)

"Dosian!" The King called.

The cry was followed by a rushing of footsteps and the door bursting open, with a medium sized, black haired captain Dosian standing on the opposite side.

"Yes Your Highness!" He replied.

"I want your advice on something... come here." Sky replied in an _interesting_ tone.

"It would be an honor sire." He remarked and then walked over to stand in front of the map that the King was surveying.

"Which planet should we destroy next?" The King said in a menacing tone.

"Lets go Digital..." Replied Dosian…

* * *

**Thanks to those of you who went back and looked at the redone of chapter one!**

**-Crystal Hauntress**


	12. Darkness Surrounds Her

(Eraklyon)

"Let's go digital..." Dosian remarked, not caring if what he said was a pun or not.

"I like the way you think Captain... Just what I would have picked." Sky replied enthusiastically.

"If I may be so bold sire... Why is it you reacted so... Well, at the very least excited at the idea of destroying the digital realm?" The Captain asked.

"Well, Dosian, that's a very good question indeed. For you see... One of my old... Let's just say comrades, lives there. And well, destroying _her_ would pique an old friends attention, and let's just say that this friend is already on the verge of self-destruction." The King paused for effect and then continued. "And I'm not particularly fond," The king snickered, knowing that his inner self was still far more then fond of this person. "Of her anymore, so I thought it'd be nice to give her a push in the direction of death. For, as you know, _she_ is the only one that could put a stop to my plans." _Or rather, Mother's plans… _The hypnotized king thought to himself. "So, the deeper into the ditches she goes, the more chance we have of no disturbance."

"Very wise my King, may I inquire as to the identity of these two friends of yours?" Dosian questioned.

"Do you happen to remember Queen Bloom of Sparx?" The King replied.

"Yes actually, who could forget those long locks of red fire?" Dosian licked his lips, his mind hatching plans that were very vile indeed.

"Well, she's the one that could stop our plans," Sky said and glanced at his Captain.

"Ah, would that be because she holds the Dragon Fi…" Dosian began but was cut off by an unexpected put down from Sky.

"Never mention that! If anyone were to hear that she were a contender in this grand scheme we would be in major trouble... And trust me! If those soldiers hear hide or hair of the fact that the all powerful Queen of Sparx, holder of the Dragon Fire could possibly intervene. They would scatter and run as if the ground under their feet were turning into molten lava. And seeing that it's Bloom we're dealing with, that is very well possible, considering her temper and tendency to gush fire when she's angry!"

"Sorry, Your Highness..."

"No time for apologies... We must make plans to attack." The King said, cobalt blue eyes flashing.

"Sir, you never did tell me the name of your other friend.." Dosian said, gently reminding him. (Or, in some terms, patently fearing for his life)

"Ah yes, her name is Techna, and if we destroy her... My precious little Bloom's heart shall shatter into even tinier pieces. Giving us even more hope that she shall not attack."

"It is an honor to be under the rule of such a wise King." The man at arms replied, saying the word king, as if it meant that Sky was a god.

"I am glad you think so Dosian." He had noticed the phrasing of king, and decided to give Dosian a bit of praise. "Many of my subjects have been too busy questioning my sanity lately, to properly do their trades." And by trades he meant groveling at his feet.

"Have you punished them sir?"

"Oh yes, what kind of King would I be if I did not?"

"Not a very good one sir..." Dosian replied, a bit scared he had used too bold of words.

"Exactly, and that, my dear Dosian is why we attack the Binary Galaxy by dawn tomorrow."

"I look forward to it my King."

"You are dismissed Dosian." With that Captain Dosian nodded and started for the door. Sky had other ideas, yet again being one of those people who talked before they were done.

"Ah, Dosian?"

"Yes my King," he said as he turned slowly around.

"If you do happen to find Miss Techna, bring her to me immediately."

"Dead or alive?" Dosian replied scathingly.

"Alive, it adds a twang of joy to it when you torture them first."

"As you wish My Lord," Dosian said and then gave off a little, menacing, chuckle.

"I do so believe that the Binary Galaxy will prove to be more fun destroying then I previously thought..." Sky said and then added his own chuckle to Dosian's.

* * *

(Binary Galaxy)

There was a valley in the Binary Galaxy that was once called The Tranquility Meadow... Or sometimes 'Peace Valley'. Depending on the person.

In that valley many people spent much of their time... And though this place happened to be a digital realm... It didn't matter to the inhabitants because they, as much as any other person, needed fresh air and a bit of quiet once in a while.

To them this place was like finding the pot of gold at the end of a rainbow, so serene and colorful. As if it itself were part of another realm...

It is rather ironic then, that this valley was the one picked by the king of Eraklyon to be the site of the war. He chose it for a number of reasons actually... For one he thought it was fun to ruin the Binary Galaxy's pride and joy. For two, all of the orchards and farms that surrounded it had more then enough supplies to sustain his army of well over 20,000 fighting men. And for three, what better way to shatter the people's hope for the future, then by destroying the one thing they coveted most?

It was with that very thing, that the meadow earned its new name... Oh no, it was not pretty, like the previous names had been... This name came of a more sinister nature... And I leave you here, to hear the story before I dare speak those names aloud...

The King stomped across the valley, stopping occasionally to clap a man hard on the back in congratulations... Or more often then not to taunt the half dead survivors of the opposite side that lay sprawled on the ground... That is how he came across the one captive that he wanted... Techna.

She had been walking across the meadow... Searching for any of the few left living, when she came across him...

Her original thought had been that he had simply come to make sure that she was ok... For poor Techna, she had had no idea whatsoever at the time that the king had evidently turned evil. I guess in a way that you _could_ blame Bloom for it... But before one could make any judgments... One should stop for a second and think... What would one do if one had just had one's heart broken? Certainly not run off to one's friends and let them make wise cracks about how stupid the very man one once loved so much was.

Poor Techna, she had had no clue, and it was no ones fault, even if Bloom could be blamed a bit. None the less, today she becomes a captive. "Oh Sky!" The purple haired, British accented fairy cried with relief at seeing a friend.

"Techna." He replied indifferently. "So nice to see you..."

_At least that's what she thinks,_ he thought to himself.

"Oh Sky!" She repeated. "Have you seen what they've done?"

"How could I not, it surrounds us on all sides. My dear, do tell, what has happened here?"

"Can you not see? A war has just happened, there were 10L 5J Metroloid Canikli 67I 32..." Suddenly she trailed off as a sweet scent hit her nostrils.

"Nostargius Canofolus..." She said to herself. "Sky! The extracts from that plant, when breathed can induce a hyper sonil slee... sl... sleep." She said finally as she plummeted to the ground in a death like slumber.

"Foolish girl... Thinking I'd actually come to help her." The king said to no one in particular.

"Very foolish indeed," A familiar voice said behind him.

"Musa, I'm surprised you got out unscathed as you did... How?" He replied as he put his hands behind his back and uncorked a different vile that didn't contain a sleeping draught, but something _fairly_ stronger...

"What's that behind your back Sky?" She said, alarmed now, and realizing her stupidity at coming to the enemy right after she had escaped.

"I hope you like the sweet smell of harmoine." Sky told her.

"Oh, dear God..." Musa said, her voice shaking the entire time.

"Because that's the last thing you're ever going to smell." He remarked.

As the fumes of the dried harmoine curled into her nostrils the only thing that she could think... The last thing she could ever think was: _Bloom, I hope you know what he's doing to us, and you save the others, before it's really too late..._ As that thought ended, the black surrounded her on all sides as her eyes fluttered shut for the last time...

Musa was dead... Forever, nothing could ever bring her back… Not even Bloom and her miraculous concoction…

So that was how the Valley got its new name, and no, it is not pretty. No longer shall it be called Tranquility Meadow, or Peace Valley, no, that would be a lie… Because now, all it could ever be was a blood stained field full of black trees and flowers of ash, it would never again feel joy, because there, in the very middle was a grave. The headstone had musical notes on it, but there was no name, because everyone knew what the notes meant, it meant that there lie a princess underneath their feet, one that would never sing again because her friend had been too late, and because she had been betrayed. Now, she was doomed to lie in her field of death, her field, the one that was named after her….

_Musa's Last Breath_

* * *

**Big sorry to Musa fans! But it had to be done! Not that I hate Musa or anything, it just goes with this plot line!**

**-Crystal Hauntress**


	13. What Have I Done?

(Binary Galaxy)

It had been an entire day since Techna had last been able to open her eyes. For the sleeping draught Sky had given her the night before had been powerful. So much so that she still felt the effects of it. The extreme need to sleep almost prevailed over the urge to think calmly and figure things out… But then, this was Techna, so she forced herself to think.

Something had happened while she was out cold, and she knew it too, but the knowledge abandoned her. All she knew was that she had heard some very interesting sounds; because for all of the sleeping draught's power, it could not by any means whatsoever keep her from hearing the things that she should not, would not, and never would want to hear again .

Techna had suspected Sky of horrid things ever since the day they had found Bloom crying her eyes out in the bedroom portion of the tower. Techna realized that Bloom was not one to be a cry baby. She herself had never seen Bloom cry before, and the tears in themselves should have been marked as the first universal wonder. And so, she thought she finally knew their cause.

_Sky, _was her only thought… Though at least she knew he was under spell. It was clear as all day that the fool was under some wretched witch on witch thing. But then, Sky had not been her boyfriend, and Bloom had a tendency to be blind about such things when she was mad.

She was then hit by the urge to know what the spell was, she had her assumptions… _Obedience spell; no doubt,_ Techna thought to herself. _But who would do such a thing to a king? For no one could be that stupid. _With that thought another started forming at the back of her mind and everything suddenly became clear.

_It had to be one of the remaining royal family…No one else could ever get that close! And I know that obedience spells don't work very well… He's probably been under it for a month… He must have escaped its power at least once by now! But how? _She stopped to think for a second then she realized what could have let him escape, for he had to have escaped its grasp._ Love… The thought of love would of done it for me… For love, as I very well know, can break through any spell. He must of come to her, and Bloom, with her: "I can give no one a second chance" thing didn't believe him. That or she didn't even let him stay in her presence long enough to get the words out. She must of saw him as the same old Sky who had broken her heart and is now too much a fool herself to come and save the only people that ever really loved her. Along with the man that deep down inside, under that spell loves her himself._ As she lifted her head from the groggy sleep she thought one more thing. _We're doomed!_

That was when it all started coming back, what she had heard during her slumber. _A loud thud as a person hit the floor, the yelling of the name of the dangerous herb harmoine, and the last shuddering breath of someone she thought she knew. _It hit her then, _Sky had killed Musa!_

As she started shaking with fear as if she had been in one of the tundra realms and had had hypothermia for a week; the very person she now hated, whether or not he had a spell on him or not, at the moment, walked into the room.

"How dare you?" Techna screamed. "How dare you take your friend's life like that!"

Sky shot a glare at her and then snapped at the chance to tell her off. "For one, she is not my friend. And if she ever was, those memories do not occur to me now. And for two, killing her automatically gives me, the victor, all power of her now heirless, and king-less planet!"

"Bloom will come! I've got no doubt!" She snarled.

"That blithering fool!" He questioned. "She's been no help to her friends once during this half-year! Why would she come now?"

"Because she could never let her friend's kingdom fall into the hands of an idiot such as yourself!"

"And what if I said she was dead?" The thought had not yet occurred to Techna, but now that it did she knew she had just been lied to.

"You lie!" She retorted fiercely.

"Ha! So you are as smart as you seem! I did lie about that, but trust me. She will be dead soon enough!" Sky was now trembling with anger. His eyes flashing between two colors.

"You couldn't send her to her grave without her getting vengeance even if you did have the guts to try!" Techna said, hoping she was right.

"If I were in your position, I'd watch my mouth!" Techna started shaking herself.

"The Hell you would! You'd be crying for your mother! And what need do I have to be afraid of you? You're nothing but a coward who thinks you must solve everything with war!"

"That may be so," he said, unscathed by her little insult. "But look around you my dear! I've had four victories so far! What can stop me?" He snickered.

With that Techna gave an effervescent grin and said mockingly: "Bloom."

* * *

(Vitalion)

Bloom was in a dark room; the tower in which she and Julian had spent the last twenty-one days and nights together; finishing the potion that could save lives. The one made of harmoine... And up to this point Bloom had not known what the herb's deadly powers could do, beyond creating a vile stench when you were trying to transform its abilities to good. Nor had she wished to know.

It was with that that her fate had been decided... She would realize that whether or not she wanted to sit and pretend that the planets weren't being destroyed was not her choice. For now, it had been decided for her, by the one man that had ever had the power to destroy her heart. The fact that Julian now could did not occur to her until it was too late... But I'll save that for later.

Julian had left her earlier that morning to go down to his room and sleep on an actual bed for the first time in, as I've said before, twenty-one days.

"Ok then," Bloom had replied to his request for a nap, not thinking that by any way possible she would just get the scare and surprise of her life.

The instant the prince had left the room her head started aching and her temples started to throb in a warning that was very familiar to her now a days.

With that she got up cautiously and walked to the window, she stuck her head through the small opening that was barely big enough for her to squeeze through. Then she stepped out onto a balcony that she had secretly been using for these exact purposes.

Now she used a simple spell that could only be mastered by the keeper of the Dragon Fire, to turn her vision into that of an eagle's and let the warning magic that gave her these headaches that she so readily despised; point her head in the correct direction and focus her gaze.

"No, it can't be!" She said to herself. "The Binary Galaxy has fallen as well!"

Too bad for her that this was not what her senses meant her to see.

Her magic whipped her gaze over to the right and down a bit then focused. For a second she wasn't sure what she was seeing. Then she noticed that the grass was stained blood red and hundreds of soldiers dressed in the Binary Galaxy's royal colors were strewn across it. It was shortly after that, that she noticed a slight variation in the color of red on the field by the means of a small patch of red fabric on a slim body that had black hair and pigtails.

"Musa," Bloom breathed.

For there was Musa, turned on her stomach so her head was facing down and all you could see was her back as she lay there… lifeless.

"Dear God no!" Bloom screamed in her panic. "No Musa! You can't be dead! No!" Her scream pierced the air again and was shortly followed by the sound of hundreds of windows shattering at once.

"I must go to her! I must!" Bloom said in a relatively lower voice.

With that she wriggled back into the tower through the window and just as fast started running down the stairs. The sound of her heels echoed behind her like two angry dogs who wouldn't give up the chase.

She shot through the door at the base of the steps and went through the halls to her room like a flash of lightning.

As she was about to slam the door to her room; Julian shot around the corner as well, having been rudely awakened from his nap by the sound of the glass in his window shattering.

"Bloom? What in the world...?" He was yet again rudely cut off as she slammed the door behind her, for she had been twenty yards ahead of him. She also had the advantage of her step being quickened by years of extreme training. Along with that he heard the door lock.

Inside the room Bloom was frantically searching through her wardrobe for her Sparian clothes. (FYI: the red dress)

Finding the dress she was looking for she quickly slipped it over her head, the fabric momentarily catching on the arm band that held the Dragon insignia until she furiously pulled it down, tied the laces in the back and slipped her crown on her head. Also binding the laces on attached to her five inch heals. She also produced her red scarf and hung it around her shoulders. Last but not least she put on the arm band's matching Golden Dragon insignia that she wore around her neck as a choker.

With that done she walked to the door, said a little enchantment that would form an invisible wall around her so that no one could stop her until it was way too late and stepped through the door.

Outside the room Julian heard the bolt click open again. Having been terrified out of his wits that something was wrong, he opened the door wildly and was surprised when he saw Bloom dressed the way she did when she was leaving something, or some-place, for a dangerous destination. The way she dressed now told anyone and everyone who she was and that they better not mess with her.

"Are you leaving?" He said, knowing full well the answer.

She didn't even answer him, instead ran right past him and up to the tower.

He followed as closely as he could but was still left far behind. Once he got up to the top of the tower she was nowhere in sight. But that just told him where she was. He ran over to the tiny window she used for seeing-magic and wriggled through.

As he got to the balcony beyond the window, she was already standing on the railing, ready to jump off.

"No Bloom!" Julian shouted, thinking she was trying to do something quite different.

He ran to her again and was then suddenly rammed back against the tower wall by powerful magic as Bloom jumped off the tower.

He was aghast for a moment then walked over to the edge himself and looked down. Suddenly a fire red colored hawk shot past his face with fire trailing behind it the entire way.

Bloom had turned into an animal? This was a new one even by him. And he thought he'd seen everything up till that moment.

_Where is she going?_ He thought to himself as his gaze followed her upwards until she left Vitalion's atmosphere.

Bloom didn't like to talk when she wasn't human, though she very well could...

_What have I done?_ She thought to herself as she flew away from the only safety she'd known for a half-year.

* * *

**Thanks for saying you like my story! But guys! I need more reviews! Yes, the story is already written -but that doesn't mean I don't want some support! So please, please, please, please, please, please review!**

**-Crystal Hauntress**


	14. Renewed Love and A Journey Begins

(Binary Galaxy)

The sky of the digital planet had turned a luminescent fire-red color. Not a good thing by most; but considering Bloom's circumstances at the moment, it was quite fitting… Seeing that in her hawk form she matched that color perfectly. The only thing on her that really differentiated from the sky; was the fact that her tail feathers were all tipped with a fire that flowed behind her like a gushing stream; as she flew. No one really noticed though; being too caught up in celebrations and all.

Bloom's piercing blue bird eyes searched relentlessly for the single shade of red that was different then the blood soaked ground. She could have sworn that she had searched for hours, but truly it was only half of one. Even for her that was a little long though, seeing what kind of magic she possessed. If she were to come up with excuses she could say that the only reason it did take so long was because the fields were vast and wide like the ocean, and every last inch strewn with bodies.

Finally, a half an hour after she had started, she came across her dead friend. Quite by accident actually. You see, she had been flying quite low to the ground when a spear whistled by, millimeters from her head.

_Oh great! Just when I find her, this!_ The bird-Bloom thought to herself.

The Queen (Bloom) had been but mere inches from her friend and was now rather ticked that she had been interrupted.

_Ach! This guy is probably looking to make a supper out of me! _And if you could laugh in your mind, that was what she did.

Hawk-Bloom then flew in a tight circle; so that she could get a look at her opponent. Seeing who it was, she smirked outwardly. Her hard beak twisting upward at the sides as if it were human lips. _Blithering fool!_ She screamed in her mind.

Sky's captain, Dosian, was standing there, with a: what-in-the-world look on his face. For he had never seen such a beautiful bird, or one that could smile like this one could, before.

He had been looking for a meal, since food was now scarce in the Binary Galaxy. That's when he happened upon this little beauty, thinking that it would taste good basted in mango sauce he threw his spear at it, missing narrowly.

Then the bird turned and flew towards him, as it got closer he could see the sapphire eyes that it had. _Very unusual..._ He had thought to himself, _I've never seen a bird with eyes any other color then pure black before._

That was when the bird smirked at him and he suddenly knew that there was something special about this hawk. Because for one; it had fire coming off of it. For two; no ordinary bird could do that smile thing. So he went on to ponder the circumstances for a second.

_Now either this is just some trick of the eye. Or this 'thing' is the smartest bird to ever roam the realms. It looks as if it is not exactly a bird either. This hawk might be an enemy of our king's… Transformed. _He put that aside as balderdash. _No one has been able to transform in hundreds of years. 'Cept for the royal family of Sparx, but then again they're all dead, and queen Bloom wouldn't dare interfere._ Smiling at his own genius, the captain held out an arm for the bird to land on; and also so he could take it to the king for use as a pet.

Bloom had other plans though, she smiled at the captain again and then flew over to land on the corpse of the fallen princess, her friend Musa.

As soon as the bird's feet touched the princess's body it went up in a puff of fire and was suddenly gone. All that remained of it was a single, purple colored, wild flower growing in the ground.

The hawk then grinned at the astonished captain and walked over to him on its short red colored legs that, just happened to match the color of its feathers. After that it jumped and fluttered its wings for a second and landed on the captain's shoulder.

_Ah! This fool doesn't realize what I actually am, ha!_ Her mind formed a plot as she sat on the now ram-rod strait Dosian. Then for effect, and to gain the captain's trust she squawked in a beautiful sing song tone and rubbed her head gently against his cheek. _Eww!_ She thought as she did it. _He smells like he hasn't taken a bath in weeks! Why did I have to choose the one imbecile that doesn't know what the concept of a bath is?_

"Ah my pretty fire hawk," the captain muttered in-between breaths. "You shall make a perfect present for the king." With that he started walking to the royal tent...

As he got to the flap that entered into it he stopped, and Bloom, being unprepared and

un-used to bird legs tumbled off of his shoulder but saved herself with a graceful swan dive; by swooping up into the air to perch on the tip of the flag pole that was on the top of the tent.

"Nice one," the captain said to the bird, half expecting it to understand what he said. Not knowing that it really could.

Knowing her place, Bloom cocked her head to the left and gave him a questioning gaze.

Dosian then smiled himself and called out to the king, getting his answer back as a simple, "Come in." He whistled for the bird to follow.

The, unknown, Queen rolled her eyes heavenward and swooped down, flying like a stroke of lightning; into the tent.

Sky, not expecting _this_ visitor ducked as it flew over his head and circled round to land on his shoulder.

"Dosian! What is this?" The king called just as the man-at-arms walked in.

"Found it circling the battle field like a vulture, Your Highness. Thought it'd make a nice gift. It's got some sort of powers or something, it's smart as a whip and I swear on my rank that it smiles like a demon."

"Is that so," the king questioned.

Bloom then got down off of her perch on his shoulder and bolted to land on the table before him. Like a princess coming down from a flight of stairs for inspection by an awaiting crowd. It was then that she smiled like the captain had said and won the hypnotized king over.

"Good job Dosian, I like her."

"_Her?_ I thought it was a_ he_ sir." Said Dosian.

"Then you're not a very good judge of character are you?" Sky replied and ran a hand up and down Bloom's back of soft feathers.

Bloom couldn't help but flinch to that, but inside, her mind sighed as she felt the touch that she no longer wanted but did _want_ at the same time. Being that she did think that he was some sort of evil war-lord.

She quickly snapped back to her present self and scolded her mind for bringing back such memories of the past.

"Leave me with my new pet captain." Sky said and continued to stroke her back.

Bloom couldn't help but let out a half human sigh that was mixed with a half sort of chirpish-squawk.

"I'm certain that you'll be a perfect friend for a lonely king such as myself." Sky said, his hypnotized part still oblivious to who and what this creature really was. And also what she was up to.

But deep down inside of him, the real Sky was screaming with all of his might. _Bloom! You came! _And also. _No! I couldn't stand to do to you like Musa, and I; as well as anyone know that I can't control this! No! You aren't safe here if my mother or anyone else figures out who you are!_

But for then, the hypnotized king went on stroking the Bloom bird. Oblivious to everything...

* * *

(Vitalion)

"How can I just sit here and let Bloom do this on her own?" Julian asked the man-at-arms, Seamus.

"I rightly don't know sir." He replied.

With that Julian grunted and started, relentlessly, asking the guard more questions.

"Tell me, Seamus." He started. "If the Queen were your one love, what would you do?"

"If I may be so bold sire, know that I don't wish to anger you in any way. But..." The guard trailed off for a second.

"What?" The prince said impatiently, then got up to start pacing the room.

"But," Seamus continued. "If I were you I would have gone with her. You can't just let her go alone. What if something happens to her, Your Majesty?"

"That's what I'm worried about!" Julian snapped and started pacing faster.

"Sire?" Seamus said.

"WHAT!" Julian snapped again.

"You're going to make a rut in the floor if you keep that pacing up..."

"Darn it already! I can't do anything right this week! First I let my girlfriend go off on her own and now I can't even pace right!" The prince yelled, and if you had seen him at that moment you would have sworn that he had steam coming out his ears.

"Sire, please calm down." Seamus said with a lost effort.

"Calm down? CALM DOWN? HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO CALM DOWN?" Julian said and started backing the guard into a corner.

"Don't hurt me..." The man-at-arms said in a mock _kid_ tone.

With that Julian let out the breath he hadn't even known that he'd been holding in.

"Sorry Seamus, but I just can't help but feel that I should go to her."

"Then why don't you, Your Majesty?" The man replied.

"Because I feel like it wouldn't be my place. Plus I don't even know where she is!"

"Then why not destroy her enemy?" Seamus suggested.

"How can I? I don't know where Sky is either!" His mind was unconsciously running through all of the possible places that Sky could be.

"But you do know what is most important to him." The guard replied.

"What?" Julian said suspiciously.

"Eraklyon." Seamus told him and then went on before the prince could say anything, or more to the point; object. "If you destroy Eraklyon, you're destroying the army's source of supplies. And you also destroy the unused weapons. Plus the plans that have already been made for the next planets…. If the king didn't take them with him to his station on the unknown planet of something."

With that Julian stopped dead in his tracks and turned round to face the guard with a 'you are a genius' look on his face.

"I like the way you think Seamus..." The prince paused to think. "Go gather supplies for me and me alone, I suddenly know how to carry out this plan of yours."

"Yes sire!" Seamus said, got up, and then bolted out the door.

* * *

(One hour later)

Julian had just arrived at the teleportation station and had put one foot through the portal, when his parents, and Seamus came rushing up to him.

"Oh dear!" His mother called.

"Son you can't do this!" His father said, agreeing with his wife.

With that Seamus walked over to Julian and handed him the bag of supplies he had requested.

"Take care, My Lord." He said and then let the king and queen pass by him for their goodbyes.

"My son, you mustn't go!" The queen said in one last pitiful attempt to keep him from leaving.

"I agree with your Mother, take pity on her nerves, my boy." The king said.

"I must go." Julian said. "I have to help Bloom in any way I can." A picture of Bloom's face flicked across his inner vision as he turned away from his parents.

The king grabbed his shoulder and turned him around to face them again. "Dear, she holds the Dragon Fire, I'm beyond being sure that she can take care of herself." His father told him.

Julian sighed, "I know, but if it were Mother out there you would do the exact same thing for her." The prince said, eased his shoulder from his father's grasp, and then stepped through the portal.

The queen then collapsed onto her husband's shoulder in heart wrenching sobs and they walked off.

"I hope the boy knows what he's doing." Seamus said to himself; and started walking, following the royal couple so he wouldn't be blamed if they got lost wandering the streets of Vitalion…

* * *

**LadyNightSky, thanks for reviewing, I'm pretty sure you were the only one for the last chapter. But keep it up, I love to hear from you, all of you! **

**Please read and review each of my chapters, so I may know that I'm doing a good job!**

**I'm going on vacation as of tomorrow, Tuesday. I will be gone until the twenty first of July, so don't get you're hopes up for another chapter until then... Sorry, but if I can find a computer in a nursing home, good luck with that, I'll update, but I doubt it, so until then, just review!**

**-Crystal Hauntress**


	15. An Engagement of Fake or Real Proportion

(Eraklyon)

The teleportation portal did drop Julian off in Eraklyon, just not in the receiving station. Julian had suspected at the time that the magic that controlled it had gone wacko. Turns out that his guess wasn't _exactly_ correct.

The magic that controlled the portal had gone wacko, but not by its own accord. For, you see, it turns out that Sky's mother had tweaked the spell a bit so that any unwanted enemies coming through would end up landing in some secluded bog thirty miles east of the original station.

"Euck!" Julian said, the echo making birds scatter from the tree tops.

For, since he had landed in a bog, he had had the pleasure of landing smack dab in a mud hole. This was no ordinary mud puddle though. The sticky brown mixture that it was made up of consisted of a steamy purple concoction that could only mean that a Canavarian Bog Worm had gone through the puddle earlier that day. Because only that kind of two ton worm could secrete the nasty, vile stuff that Julian now sat in.

It was then that the prince felt the nasty sensation of bile coming up from his stomach. Julian, not wanting to embarrass himself in any place, way, shape, or form, swallowed hastily to keep from projecting it out of his stomach.

"Aw, that was so nasty!" He yelled, the sound was yet again followed by a few more birds leaving their nests in the trees.

He then got up out of the puddle, the purple liquid stringing out behind him until it reached its breaking point and snapped like cheese on a pizza.

The prince then grumbled to himself as he pulled off his dirty clothes and slipped into one of the two extra pairs he had brought.

_So much for the portal station's 'Most Accurate Landings' award!_ He thought to himself, and then trudged onward towards his destination, Eraklyon's castle.

(The Castle)

As Julian finally reached the boundary of the castle's grounds he stooped down low for a second as two guards passed by talking.

"So, I heard that the king has conquered..." One said but disappeared around a bin.

Julian, seeing a possible chance to find out where Bloom was, chased after them. Darting from tree to tree, so he wouldn't be seen. Though his boots still squelched every time they touched the ground, because, to Julian's dismay; no matter what he did the crud would just not come off of the soles of his boots. That and the fact that some of it had seeped through the boot's heavy leather and was now sloshing around his foot every time he so much as twitched. And so he finally gave up on the dream of keeping his shoes without being heard or seen, and took them off; and left them under the tree he was trying to look like he was part of.

His boots now removed, he ran to the next nearest tree, and so on and so forth until he was yet again in hearing range of the guards conversation….

"Yeah, it looks to me that the king is pleased with the Binary Galaxy..." Said the other as Julian caught up to them.

"Sounds like he's gonna stay there for a while too." Replied the first.

"Yep..." The other said then paused, looking for another topic. "Did you hear that the king has gotten himself a pet?" He said eventually.

_Pet? This'll be interesting._ Julian thought.

"Really? What is it?" Said, guard one as he paused for a second to pick a piece of the latest meal; out of his teeth.

"Heard it was a hawk." Said the second…

"Hawk? What does the king want with a hawk?" The tooth-picker replied incredulously.

"This hawk's rumored to have some sort of powers. They're saying that it's blood red, has sapphire blue eyes, and has fire coming off of its tail feathers..." The teller said and rounded a corner in which Julian could not follow.

_Red hawk, _Julian thought to himself. _Where have I seen a red hawk before?_ Then it hit him. _BLOOM! I finally know where to find her!_

Then his task at present came back to him. _Darn it! I've gotta destroy this place before I can go after her! Dang it already!_

With that said he got back to his task... First he put explosives around every corner and in every nook that he could find in the outer wall of the palace. Then he went to every town he could find that was nearby and placed explosives there. After the placing was finished he then went round again to check that they were all secure and to also attach the ignition cords to the bombs themselves and unwind the cord up a hill and attach it to the ignition box with all of the others.

Once he was finished with that he stationed himself on top of the hill and draped a fire proof/demolition proof cape around himself before he pressed the button that would send the signal running down the hundreds of ignition cords, running up the hill, to blow up the bombs.

And so the time came to push that button. That was when he started having second thoughts.

_Should I really sink down to his level?_ He thought this, but he already knew the answer. _It's not his level when you're doing it to help another save billions of lives._

So that was what he did, he pushed the lever down with a swift punch and let the sound of a resounding bang fill his head.

_Now I find Bloom..._ His mind told him; and with that he tracked off to the bog again and went through the, still, open portal and into the Binary Galaxy.

(Binary Galaxy)

When he got there everything was the same as the day Bloom had entered. Red sky, blood soaked ground, and bodies scattered everywhere that there was land for them to be scattered on.

This time the tweaked portal just happened to drop him off in the middle of the enemy's camp. Lucky for him, no one was around at the moment to notice an out-of-place-prince.

So he searched through every tent, but found nothing. No sight what-so-ever of the red bird that was apparently, or hopefully, his Bloom. Little did he know that she was flying directly over him. Thinking that he was yet another imbecile, come to get himself killed; and she thought this even though she knew it was him.

_Crap! What is he doing here?_ Bloom thought to herself. By now she had heard of the destruction of Eraklyon, that was where all the soldiers, including the King had gone.

She pondered a second over the predicament she was in… She could (A) Ignore him (B) Kill him from where she was with a blink of an eye. Or she could (C) go down and yell his head off. She liked the latter of the three, the idea of yelling at someone right now; when she hadn't been able to talk since she changed, appealed to her greatly. So Bloom flew steadily down to him, in no hurry to make her presence known… But as she neared him she gave off one ear piercing squawk.

"What in the world?" Julian said to himself and looked up, then saw that a red hawk was doing a dive bomb right at his head.

"Bloom?" He questioned just as she was a foot from his head. The prince was cut off from asking any other question for the Bloom-bird gave him a hard peck on the head as if to say: CRAZY BOY! ARE YOU SOME KIND OR LUNATIC? (!)

She then landed a foot in front of him, the prince was still rubbing the top of his head, his eyes firmly closed from the pain.

A few minutes later his eyes fluttered open and he caught the last bit of her transforming into the woman he knew. (Just as her neck stretched out to its human length and her shoes reappeared on her feet.)

"Bloom!" He shouted and threw his arms around her.

"You're crazy!" She screeched.

"I don't care if I am!" He said back.

"Well I do care! You could have gotten yourself killed!" She glared at him, here eyes looking as though they wanted to pop out of her head.

"Did you happen to hear who destroyed Eraklyon?" He said as if nothing had happened and they were talking about this over a cup of tea in a Victorian styled movie.

"No," she said suspiciously.

"Me."

Her mouth dropped open, she looked as if she wanted to say something for a moment, but she changed her mind and shut her mouth. Just as quickly as it had shut, it sagged open again… Julian stood there just smiling at the fact that he had the power to surprise her. But his momentary glee over that soon abated as she finally said: "Thank you, but you're still an idiot."

He couldn't help from letting out a small laugh at this and say, "yeah, but I'm your idiot," and continue smiling.

"Uh huh." She whispered and started walking away from him.

"Bloom." He said after a moment of realizing she had started moving, he walked after her and touched her shoulder to get her attention.

"What?" She questioned, still peeved that he had done such a stupid thing and could have gotten himself killed. _Wait, why do I care?_ She asked herself and shook her head to clear it. Then she noticed something that really freaked her out… Julian was dropping down to his knees and holding a ring out to her.

"Will you marry me?" He asked and looked up at her.

_Crap, _she thought to herself and then, _och, now I have to come up with a nice/ interesting way of rejecting him _"Huh?" Was all she could come up with; or really say before he started talking.

And so he cut her off then and said. "I don't want to lose you Bloom, and I was gonna ask you anyway. I want you to know you're loved."

"Ah." She said.

"Don't say no Bloom." Julian pleaded and looked at her with hope.

"Ah." She repeated; 'ah' being the only thing her brain could think of say or do at the moment...

"Please?" He said, breaking out the puppy dog eyes, hoping that puppy dog eyes did work on queens.

"It's all I ever wanted..." She finally said, giving in, her poor, flabbergasted brain, saying the first thing that came to mind.

With that he pushed the ring onto her finger. It had a single sapphire in the middle and was surrounded by rubies, a diamond peeking out of a crevices in-between a jewel, now and again.

"Is that a yes?" He teased, his eyes glowing.

She then nodded her head looked down at the ring for a moment, looking for something to distract herself…

"Come back with me." He beseeched, "I want to know you're safe at home with me, and so we can get marry"

Bloom caught herself before she nodded her head and said yes. "Julian, I have to stay here and save these people."

"Then I stay with..."

"No!" She said instantly. "I couldn't stand your getting hurt over my problems. I just couldn't let that happen to another person, especially not after Musa!"

"I'm staying." He replied stubbornly.

"You must go, I promise I'll come back when it's all over." She shook her head in disbelief at the things she had done today.

"I can't leave you." He still insisted.

"It's too late now, I swore you would not be hurt and I meant it." She said quietly and opened a portal behind him, transforming into a bird as he looked back at it.

His neck made his head snap back round to look at her as she spoke. And so she did, her beak forming the words like human lips.

"I'll come back." She promised herself, more then him…

Julian was about to protest but his mouth decided it did not want to move and snapped shut so that the only thing he could do was nod as he, still stunned, stepped through the portal...

**To Be Continued**

* * *

**Thanks for all of the reviews this time! And keep it up! It's nice to see you here winxlover05! And I've finally returned from vacation to continue the story!**

**-Crystal Hauntress**


	16. A Bloom Lost, Is a Bloom To Be Found

(Eraklyon)

Sky had been busy pacing the halls of the remaining portion of Eraklyon's palace, for hours now… In desperate hope that the ruts he had created in the floor would fix the problems; so he wouldn't have to. Unfortunately, all the ruts did for him, was get too deep, and thus make him move to another place and hope that the new rut in the floor would work.

"What in all the realms could have done this!" The king shouted, backing poor captain Dosian into a corner. His eyes obviously relaying death to the man, if he were to give the wrong answer.

"I don't know sir..." The captain replied, stuttering on each word. And; himself praying that his king would find enough comfort in the floor-ruts, to spare his life.

Apparently Sky didn't notice the incompetent answer, for his attention was still fully on the non-existent tiles. "What imbecile would even think of doing this now?(!)" Sky's eyes flashed a spine-chilling navy blue. "We've destroyed half the planets and they still do this? WHO!(?)"

"I don't know Your Highness, honestly!" Dosian told him clumsily.

"What do you mean you don't know?" Sky burst, "You're the highest ranking captain in my army! You should have had people here protecting Eraklyon from this exact thing!" He finally stopped pacing for a second so he could stare at the captain contemptuously. "You know, Dosian, I do so believe that the hangman's noose has been feeling a bit lonely lately… Hmm, or maybe the guillotine's blade needs a companion?"

Dosian's face became insipid as he realized what the metaphor meant exactly… He then screamed; "I did sir, I swear it! There were…" Sky cut him off.

"Then how did this person get past your guards in the first place?" The King stared ominously at the captain.

"Well..." Dosian started.

"Well what?" Sky said like a half crazed stalker.

"Um, we did have guards here but..." He trailed off again. His fear had gotten the better of him again as he realized how stupid the answer was.

"But _what_, Dosian?" Sky said and took a step towards the man. Yet the king remained unanswered.

He finally became impatient and decided the best way to get his answer was to threaten the poor man, deciding that his material would have to consist of the only thing the captain had. "Tell me now or I shall strip you of your rank!"

Dosian finally gave in and continued the sentence from where he had left off "But..." He paused, fear tingling through every hair on his body. "They were not fully trained sir..."

"WHAT! You had a bunch of low-lifers guarding this _place?_ The most _important_ planet in the galaxies?" _That's an overstatement if I've ever heard one, _the real Sky thought to himself from somewhere deep inside his seemingly emotionless body.

Dosian let his head hang down like a freshly rebuked puppy, then fell to his knees as if to worship his King.

The King sighed abstractedly and went on. "No matter... It's definitely not the worst mistake you've ever made." Sky's voice rang a little differently after the first two words….

The captain didn't notice though, being that he was overly happy with the fact that he wasn't going to die today… With that the captain kissed the toe of the king's shoe and backed up in retreat.

As Dosian backed off down the road Sky snapped his head round to look over his shoulder to make sure that he was not leaving a trail or being pursued, then shot off in a dead run towards; and into the woods.

His short hair whipped around his forehead and shoulders behind him as he entered the forest and hid behind the first tree that was large enough to conceal his broad shoulders...

Finally feeling safe, he gasped for breath as he let his body sink towards the dirt so he could sit and lean his back against the tree.

"What in all shit? How did I get out of that spell?" The thought took a long time in coming but it eventually did, and when it did, he _did_ not find it pretty.

_I'm not free... My blast-it Mother just let it slip with-out knowing... I'll not be safe much longer, that is, if I'm even safe now..._

It all came back to him in one rushing instant after he figured that out... All of it came back… All that he had seen and heard behind the _impenetrable_ filmy layer of the unyielding spell.

Musa's face as she died from the draught of gaseous harmoine, the way it had looked as though she had felt actual sympathy for him… And he then remembered what she had said to him; _If she knew you were under this spell… She would do anything and everything to save you! _

That reminded him about Bloom in her bird-form, sitting silently and cocking her head at him as he pet her.

"Dear god!" Sky yelled. "I must get to Bloom and tell her the truth!" Then he let his mind wander for a second.

_What if she won't listen to me?_

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**Know 'twas short, but makes all the better for a good cliffie!**

**-(If it changed like it's supposed to) Rose-Petal**


	17. Prayer For Love

(Eraklyon)

_I'm not free... My blast-it Mother just let it slip with-out knowing... I'll not be safe much longer, that is, if I'm even safe now..._

It all came back to him in one rushing instant after he figured that out... All of it came back… All that he had seen and heard behind the _impenetrable_ filmy layer of the unyielding spell.

Musa's face as she died from the draught of gaseous harmoine, the way it had looked as though she had felt actual sympathy for him… And he then remembered what she had said to him; _If she knew you were under this spell… She would do anything and everything to save you! _

That reminded him about Bloom in her bird-form, sitting silently and cocking her head at him as he pet her.

"Dear god!" Sky yelled. "I must get to Bloom and tell her the truth!" Then he let his mind wander for a second.

_What if she won't listen to me?_ He let out a low gasp. _What if she doesn't believe me if she will hear me? My God! What have I done to her? If I hadn't done something to her... Which I still can't remember what... She would of listened to me and done everything in her power to help me... Why should I even bother?_

His conscience already knew the answer... _Because you love her..._

"I know I love her!" Sky screamed at the empty space surrounding him. "But does she love me?"

**_Yes, but she doesn't know it anymore._** A part, thus far, unknown to him said. **_And, thou naive mortal, her heart belongs to another._ **

"What?" He muttered.

**_You heard me... Even if she does love you, as long as her young man lives, she will never become yours._ **His mind snickered at him…. _What is that? _He asked himself.

"No..." Sky whispered, letting the question pass for a moment.

**_She loves another my darling..._ **The thing went on, and to the thing's amusement, it continued to freak Sky out even further.

It took him a moment, but Sky finally figured it out…. He knew who this voice was; he'd heard it many times before…. Even though it was speaking in his head, the cackle that shaded the words was unforgettable; especially if you've heard it ever since you were a babe.

"Mother!"

The cacklish tone of voice seemed to smile, but just drove straight on in her torment. **_You couldn't have possibly thought that I didn't know the spell had worn off again!_**

The King started to furiously rip at his head... Hoping to high heaven that each strand of hair he removed would take a piece of the voice with it...

**_Tsk, tsk, darling, you can't do any harm to me... And, even if you could get to your precious Bloom, which I may well let you for the fun of it. _**Sky's mother, Scariialla, snickered in his mind. **_She wouldn't help you... She loves that perfect Prince Charming of Vitalion... Plus, she hates you to the very core, she knows what you did to Musa, and she knows what you are doing to Techna. She wouldn't believe anything you said._**

"How can you do this to _me_, your child!" Sky inquired.

**_Because, sugar, the troops refuse to listen to a lady, even if I am their queen. _**She seemed to be grimacing at that moment, **_Foolish mortals!_**

"Why do you keep calling us mortals?" Sky said, vexed.

**_Because my dear, that's what you shall all be, compared to me. For you see, once I destroy all of the realms I shall retain into my possession the ability to become immortal! No one will ever call me a weak little queen again!_**

"Oh crap!" Sky yelled.

His head then started to throb as his Mother let out one of her famous high pitched cackles and left him.

The headache took its sweet time ebbing away, but finally let off as the last eminence of his Mother's perverted thoughts left his psyche.

The King's eyes slowly drifted over his surroundings once she was gone and finally brought himself to say the thing that was one of the only truths left to him… "If she becomes immortal... This universe is doomed..."

And so he sighed; then slowly got up off of the cold packed dirt and stretched his aching legs in exhaustion.

_What am I to do?_ He wanted to know of himself.

_Bloom..._ His conscience said, finally chiming in; or rather, reminding him.

"What good will she do me if she loathes my very existence?" He said back to it, thinking that this was something decent to talk to.

_Bloom._ It said to him, yet again.

"She won't believe me!" He said relentlessly.

_She is the key, Bloom is the only one, she is the only hope that this universe has left, if you do not find her, and tell her the truth... Who will?_

"She hates me!" Said Sky stubbornly.

_Love..._

"She doesn't love me!" He spat back.

_She loves the Prince._

"Damn it! I know that already, do you have to rub it in!" He continued to curse for quite some time after this.

Once he finally relented, his persistent mind continued… _She loves the Prince... But she loved you first... And the Prince will not always be there..._ Whispered that all knowing part of him.

The King gasped and whispered; "What's that supposed to mean?"

_Life is a journey... All answers are given in time... The answer to this one lies only around the corner... You only; just need to look for that corner… _It remained quiet for a moment. _The Prince has served his purpose... His time is limited..._

"What?" Fear started to well up inside of him, his body starting to shake with it… Trying to shed it.

_Bloom..._ Was the only thing it said, not attempting to soothe him in anyway whatsoever; and Sky was then alone, except for the questions buzzing around his mind.

He had gotten the answers to those few questions by himself, his conscience knew so many things, but it very rarely found call; to actually give him the answers on his own, without making do something first… To deserve them… Without feeling pain first, he would go on suffering… That was his curse…

For the first time in his life, Sky let the tears fall down his cheeks freely, and he whispered her name….. The name of the woman he loved so much… The name of the woman who would soon become this world's savior… The person who loved him… But would never admit it again… Unless she found reason… "Bloom..." Sky said to himself and got up to find a portal before his Mother overtook him again.

And in all hope… He whispered her name once more, as if it were a prayer… And ironically… He prayed when he said it. "Bloom..."

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**Hey! Thanks Nisa! Anyway, I did end up finally getting my penname changed... It is now Winged Rose, Instead of Crystal Hauntress, or Rose Petal. So...**

_**-Winged Rose**_


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